Fatigue and Bus Driver Working Hours

Caroline Pidgeon: A year ago in response to Question 2019/2084 you stated “London’s bus network is the most heavily monitored in the UK with respect to driver hours and I am satisfied that London bus drivers are not working excessively long hours.” Given the findings of the Loughborough University Report published in August 2019 and Unite the Union’s Consultative Ballot about Fatigue held on 7 Feb 2020, are you “still satisfied that London Bus Drivers are not working excessively long hours”? If so, please provide evidence to support your statement.

The Mayor: As mentioned in my response to Mayor's Question 2019/2084, bus drivers’ hours are subject to legislation which helps avoid the risk of long continuous shifts and ensure suitable breaks. All bus operators must comply with these requirements as part of their operator licences. The Traffic Commissioner can investigate any concerns and revoke or restrict their licences if significant breaches are evident. Further monitoring by Transport for London (TfL) helps support this legislative compliance framework.
The Loughborough University research published on TfL’s website detailed factors that may contribute to driver fatigue. TfL is now working with operators to take forward a programme to tackle the root causes and reduce fatigue as much as possible.

Met Police Estates Programme (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide a list of the police buildings that have been sold since you took office as Mayor of London, broken down by type and year/month of sale?

The Mayor: The detail of buildings sold by MOPAC can be found at https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/mayors-office-policing-and-crime-mopac/governance-and-decision-making/finance-and-audit

Travelling Without a Valid Ticket on the TfL Network 3

Jennette Arnold: Please provide details of the income generated by TfL prosecutions against people caught travelling on the TfL Network without a valid ticket in the years 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19. Please provide a breakdown year by year.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) does not generate income from prosecutions against people caught travelling on their network without a valid ticket. Prosecutions result in a court fine being awarded, which is paid to Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and Victim Surcharge, which is also paid to HMCTS.
The Court will award TfL compensations for fares avoided, which is paid to HMCTS and is then forwarded to TfL. This is usually paid in instalments monthly, until the full amount is paid.

Travelling Without a Valid Ticket on the TfL Network 2

Jennette Arnold: Please provide details of the number of successful prosecutions by TfL against people caught travelling on the TfL Network without a valid ticket in the years 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19. Please provide a breakdown year by year.

The Mayor: The attached table indicates the number of successful prosecutions for fare evasion.

High Streets (2)

Leonie Cooper: How will your Adaptative High Streets Strategy help local authorities to develop exciting and thriving high streets?

The Mayor: The High Streets - Adaptive Strategies guidance will support boroughs, high street custodians and communities to respond to the various challenges facing London’s high streets.
The guidance advocates a ‘mission-orientated’ approach to the development of 'adaptive strategies’ for high street renewal. Strategies should comprise actions to be taken by partnerships in response to the specific environmental, social or economic challenges individual high streets are facing.
The guidance highlights a series of approaches being led by London boroughs and Business Improvement Districts to diversify the offer on their local high streets and make it more responsive to the needs of the local community. All are considering the particular challenges facing their high streets, coming up with strategies, setting goals, forming the necessary partnerships to achieve them and testing innovative solutions.
The guidance is intended to inform the development of high street strategies that can achieve major and long-lasting positive change.

High Streets (1)

Leonie Cooper: Please provide the retail vacancy rates for each London borough. If possible, can you provide this for each year from 2012 to 2019?

The Mayor: We do not currently hold this data, but my City and Intelligence Unit are in the process of gathering data and developing an evidence base to provide a clearer understanding of the retail outlook for London’s high streets.

Chingford to Liverpool Street Line Timetable

Jennette Arnold: Will TfL be increasing train frequency once the new trains have been put in service?

The Mayor: There are no current plans to change the timetable as a result of the new trains being introduced.

Chingford to Liverpool Street Line New Rolling Stock Capacity

Jennette Arnold: Do the new rolling stock due on the Chingford to Liverpool Street line have increased capacity compared to the old trains currently in use?

The Mayor: Yes, the new Class 710 units have slightly more capacity of 675 people per four-car unit, compared to 657 in the Class 315 units, and 609 in the Class 317 units. The new walk-through trains replace the oldest rolling stock operating on the London Overground and are also air-conditioned and feature free Wi-Fi, real-time information screens, USB charging points and wheelchair spaces. This will help us provide more reliable and comfortable journeys.

London Bus Companies

Caroline Pidgeon: Please declare the total amount of dead mileage claimed back by all the London bus companies on a year by year basis for the last three consecutive years. Please also provide the total cost in refunding the dead mileage to bus companies on a year by year basis for the last three consecutive years.

The Mayor: Bus operators do not claim back dead mileage from Transport for London (TfL). They work out their overall costs and factor these into the price they can competitively bid to operate a bus route. Higher dead mileage, because of greater distances from garages to the start and end point of routes, may lead to a decision by the operator not to submit a bid for the route in the first place. TfL’s iBus vehicle tracking system looks at live mileage to enable it to understand how well operators perform against their route schedules.
Bus operators can potentially offset some fuel costs through the discretionary Bus Services Operators Grant (BSOG), but this is administered through central Government, not TfL.

Twickenham Bridge

Caroline Pidgeon: Please set out by each month over the next two years the measures that TfL will be taking to (a) inspect and (b) undertake repairs to Twickenham Bridge.

The Mayor: All highway structures on the Transport for London Road Network are subject to routine inspections in accordance with best practice. Transport for London (TfL) carries out the following inspections of Twickenham Bridge:
Twickenham Bridge’s structure is safe and operable. Inspections are an important tool in identifying recommended repairs and monitoring the condition of structures. At Twickenham Bridge, repairs have recently been made to the lighting in the subways.
As a Grade II* listed structure, TfL are limited in the short-term repairs that can be carried out. A full scheme of repairs to the Bridge is in development.

Pedestrian Pilot in Tooting (2)

Leonie Cooper: How will the Tooting Pedestrian Pilot Scheme contribute to the vibrancy of shops in Tooting Broadway?

The Mayor: The scheme will make Tooting town centre more accessible and attractive to pedestrians and cyclists, thereby encouraging more footfall in the area which will benefit the shops. Recent evidence shows that making town centres better for walking and cycling tends to improve economic indicators. More information can be found on Transport for London’s webpage here: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/economic-benefits-of-walking-and-cycling

West Hampstead London Overground ticket office

Caroline Pidgeon: Following improvements to this station what assurances can you provide that there will remain a ticket office serving London Overground passengers at this station?

The Mayor: The ticket office at West Hampstead remains open with new hours to reflect customer demand. Transport for London will continue to discuss options with Arriva Rail London and London TravelWatch for a staffed ticket sales facility to remain at this station.

Impact of Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund

Florence Eshalomi: What has been theimpact of organisation/schemes that have been funded through the Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund, specifically in the Lambeth & Southwark area? If the Mayor believes the impact has been positive, is this something he will commit to being rolled out, should he be re-elected?

The Mayor: So far, 330 projects have been funded by the Young Londoners Fund which will support more than 110,000 young people. Over 22,000 young Londoners have already benefitted from these projects, which offer a range of positive opportunities, including theatre groups, counselling, employability training, football clubs and art sessions. Nearly 2,000 young people from Lambeth and Southwark have already accessed activities, from horse riding to mentoring.
For example, Building Young Brixton, a partnership based in Lambeth, was one of four large projects funded from January 2019. It has already achieved fantastic outcomes for over 300 young people, improving their mental health and well-being, supporting them into work and improving attainment. These outcomes reflect a significant impact on the lives of young people and show how a public health approach to addressing the complex causes of violent crime can improve life chances.
On 12 February, I announced £25 million of new money to build on the Young Londoners Fund – providing new funding for projects and programmes that provide positive opportunities for disadvantaged young people and help steer them away from crime.

False alarm worst offenders

Andrew Dismore: Please list a) the ten sites to which LFB have received the most false alarm call outs in each year from 2020 year to date back to 2016 inclusive, and b) how many call outs to each site in each year were carried out.

The Mayor: The table below shows the ten sites for which LFB have received the most false alarms in any of the years 2016 to 2019 and for the period 1 Jan 2020 to 12 Feb 2020, and the number of calls outs in each of those years.
Location
Property description
2016
2017
2018
2019
>12/02/20
ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, ROWLAND HILL STREET, LONDON, CAMDEN, NW3 2PF
Hospital
79
75
74
105
n/a
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, 235 EUSTON ROAD, LONDON, CAMDEN, NW1 2BU
Hospital
69
48
62
68
n/a
BARNET GENERAL HOSPITAL, WELLHOUSE LANE, BARNET, EN5 3DJ
Hospital
45
67
67
67
n/a
OXLEAS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST, QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL, STADIUM ROAD, WOOLWICH, GREENWICH, SE18 4QH
Hospital
37
45
62
40
n/a
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL LEWISHAM, LEWISHAM HIGH STREET, HITHER GREEN, LONDON, LEWISHAM, SE13 6LH
Hospital
43
33
34
26
n/a
LADYWELL UNIT, UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL LEWISHAM, LEWISHAM HIGH STREET, LONDON, SE13 6LW
Hospital
n/a
n/a
37
39
n/a
QUEENS HOSPITAL, ROM VALLEY WAY, ROMFORD, HAVERING, RM7 0AG
Hospital
28
31
n/a
n/a
n/a
CITIBANK DATACENTRE RIVERDALE, MOLESWORTH STREET, LADYWELL, LONDON, LEWISHAM, SE13 7EY
Purpose built office
n/a
n/a
n/a
36
10
KINGSTON HOSPITAL NHS TRUST, KINGSTON HOSPITAL, GALSWORTHY ROAD, KINGSTON UPON THAMES, KT2 7QB
Hospital
n/a
n/a
41
n/a
HARVEY & BROCKLESS THE FINE FOOD CO, 32-42 STEWARTS ROAD, LONDON, WANDSWORTH, SW8 4DQ
Food and drink processing
n/a
n/a
n/a
40
n/a
CHASE FARM HOSPITAL, THE RIDGEWAY, ENFIELD, EN2 8JL
Hospital
n/a
39
n/a
n/a
n/a
LEWISHAM HOSPITAL, 390-396 LEWISHAM HIGH STREET, HITHER GREEN, LONDON, LEWISHAM, SE13 6LJ
Hospital
n/a
n/a
n/a
36
n/a
4 JUNIPER HOUSE, 3 FOURTH AVENUE, LONDON, CITY OF WESTMINSTER, W10 4QX
Self contained Sheltered Housing
n/a
n/a
n/a
25
11
93 HERNE HILL, LONDON, SOUTHWARK, SE24 9LY
Hostel
n/a
34
n/a
n/a
n/a
KNOWLES HOUSE
Temporary/supported living~
n/a
n/a
33
n/a
n/a
LANESBOROUGH WING, ST GEORGES HOSPITAL, BLACKSHAW ROAD, LONDON, WANDSWORTH, SW17 0QT
Hospital
n/a
n/a
n/a
25
8
ROYAL HOSPITAL FOR NEURO DISABILITY, 101-119 WEST HILL, LONDON, WANDSWORTH, SW15 3SW
Hospital
n/a
n/a
30
n/a
n/a
ST GEORGES HOSPITAL, BLACKSHAW ROAD, LONDON, WANDSWORTH, SW17 0QT
Hospital
29
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, POND STREET, LONDON, CAMDEN, NW3 2QG
Hospital
n/a
n/a
29
n/a
n/a
JOHN HOWARD CENTRE, 12 KENWORTHY ROAD, HACKNEY, LONDON, HACKNEY, E9 5TD
Hospital
n/a
n/a
29
n/a
n/a
KENT HOUSE, WALDEN STREET, LONDON, TOWER HAMLETS, E1 2AQ
Nurses'/Doctors' accommodation
n/a
26
n/a
n/a
n/a
STAMFORD STREET APARTMENTS, 127 STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, LAMBETH, SE1 9NQ
Student Hall of Residence
n/a
25
n/a
n/a
n/a
441-447 BRIXTON ROAD, LONDON, LAMBETH, SW9 8HE
Shop~
n/a
n/a
n/a
25
n/a
FORBES HOUSE, STONEHILL ROAD, CHISWICK, LONDON, HOUNSLOW, W4 3AH
Self contained Sheltered Housing
n/a
n/a
n/a
25
n/a
1 HANSHAW DRIVE, EDGWARE, BARNET, HA8 0HP
Self contained Sheltered Housing
23
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
364-366 NORWOOD ROAD, LONDON, LAMBETH, SE27 9AA
Shop~
23
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
CHARING CROSS HOTEL, STRAND, LONDON, CITY OF WESTMINSTER, WC2N 5HX
Hotel/motel
23
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
RIVERSIDE BUILDING, UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL LEWISHAM, LEWISHAM HIGH STREET, LONDON, SE13 6LH
Hospital
23
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
92 PARK LANE, LONDON, CITY OF WESTMINSTER, W1K 7TA
Shop~
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
10
BRAMLEY BANK SCHOOL, 170 SANDERSTEAD ROAD, SOUTH CROYDON, CROYDON, CR2 0LY
Infant/Primary school
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
9
Q PARK, WHITCOMB STREET CARPARK, 39-41 WHITCOMB STREET, LONDON, CITY OF WESTMINSTER, WC2H 7DT
Multi-Storey car park
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
7
EDDYSTONE TOWER, OXESTALLS ROAD, LONDON, LEWISHAM, SE8 3QU
Flats~
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
7
148 HORNSEY LANE, ISLINGTON, LONDON, ISLINGTON, N6 5NS
Self contained Sheltered Housing
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
7
IDEA STORE, 321 WHITECHAPEL ROAD, LONDON, TOWER HAMLETS, E1 1BU
Library
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
7
7 LOCKWOOD HOUSE, KENNINGTON OVAL, LONDON, LAMBETH, SE11 5SZ
Flats~
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
7

Retrofit Accelerator (4)

Leonie Cooper: How much carbon will be saved under the Retrofit Accelerator?

The Mayor: It is forecast that the 1,678 homes supported under the programme will save 4,161 tonnes of CO2e per annum. This is an average 2.48 tonnes of CO2e per annum from each home.
This is a carbon reduction in each home by an average of 60 per centand in many cases to near net-zero energy. For comparison these homes should save 2.5 times as much carbon per home than was achieved on average under the RE:NEW programme and 3.5 times as much carbon per home than was achieved on average under the first phase of the Warmer Homes programme.

Modern Slavery

Steve O'Connell: With Modern slavery increasing tenfold over the last five years in London, what are you doing to tackle this problem?

The Mayor: My Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) convenesthe London Modern Slavery Partnership Board,effectively bringing together partners and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)to support, showcase and problem solve work that is being undertaken toensure a consistent and joined-up approachacross Londonto tackle modern slavery.
The Board has supported my efforts to encourage businesses to take this issue more seriously, with clear standards for identifying and preventing the problem included in my Mayor’s Good Work Standard.
The Board hasagreed that a focus on domestic servitudewill provide an opportunity to raise awareness of this largely hidden crime. This workwill seek tochangethe behaviour of potential perpetrators and ultimately drive down the cases of domestic servitude.
In addition, MOPAC will berunning a training programme to train frontline workers on how to spot and respond to cases of modern slavery.
I have also supported the Modern Slavery Helpline by providing a financial contribution to ensure it can continue running and provide detailed referrals and information to the police.

Reducing Barriers for NEETs

Susan Hall: What actions have you taken to reduce the barriers to employment for those who are NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training)?

The Mayor: My European Social Fund 2019-23 programme will deliver arange of skills and employment projects to support unemployed young people and adults into further training and sustained jobs. It includes £7.5m to provide skills, work experience and personal development support to help NEET young people with complex needs move into work or education. This is focused on those groups of young people who find it particularly challenging to find employment including care leavers, homeless young people and those with problem debt. A further £6.5m is allocated to support young Londoners with special educational needs – to help them back into education or to move onto employment.
My £45million Young Londoners Fund is supporting thousands of young people, with many projects providing experience of the world of work. For example, Circle Collective’s project gives valuable work experience in its streetwear stores for young people experiencing a range of barriers.
Team London’s Head 2Work programme will develop young people’s confidence and skills through leading on a social action project, working directly with business mentors, employers and receiving employability training.

Outer London Buses

Navin Shah: Will your budget include a root and branch review and more funding for buses in Outer London?

The Mayor: Transport for London’s (TfL) Business Plan includes funding for growing outer London bus kilometres by five million over the five-year plan period.
TfL has already carried out nine strategic area reviews. It is now working with boroughs on a programme of reviews which will inform potential future changes, alongside reviewing service levels as relevant bus contracts approach re-letting. This programme will cover the whole of London over time.

Parliament Square

Navin Shah: When will you publish the Parliament Square Streetscape Project feasibility study?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) and GLA Officers continue to work with Westminster City Council, Parliament and the Cabinet Office and I am pleased to say that feasibility assessment is substantially complete, subject to final review and discussions with key stakeholders. This work has focused on how the public spaces and transport network could be reimagined to make Parliament Square safer and create a better environment for all. The key findings will be published later this year.
The next step is to secure the necessary funding to deliver this transformational project and develop the proposals ahead of a wider consultation.

Night Czar Progress (2)

Susan Hall: How many clubs has the night czar prevented from closure? Please list.

The Mayor: The Cultural Infrastructure Map a first for London provides open source data on the location of cultural assets to help protect them. Club data is not collected separately, instead, data on grassroots music venues and LGBTQ+ venues includes clubs.
Between 2007 and 2016, 35% of grassroots music venues in London closed. Since 2016, my Culture at Risk Office has successfully supported 53 music venues from the risk of permanent closure. The number of London’s grassroots music venues has risen in the last year after a decade of decline.My Night Czar supports the Culture at Risk Office on a case by case basis where appropriate. For example, the 100 Club was recently granted 100% business rates relief from Westminster City Council, secured following discussions with the Night Czar.

Night Czar Progress (3)

Susan Hall: How many gay bars has the night czar prevented from closure? Please list.

The Mayor: LGBTQ+ venues are important community spaces for Londoners, providing safe and welcoming places to meet, and make a significant contribution to the night-time economy.
The number of LGBTQ+ venues decreased by 62 percent between 2006 to 2017, leaving just 51 LGBTQ+ venues in London today. Since 2016, my Culture at Risk Office has successfully supported 12 LGBTQ+ venues that were at risk of closure that have remained opened or will be reopened. My Night Czar supports the Culture at Risk Office on a case by case basis where appropriate.
London’s first Cultural Infrastructure Map provides open source data on the location of cultural assets in London, including LGBTQ+ venues, to help protect them. In 2018, the number of London LGBTQ+ venues stabilised for the first time in a decade.
Due to commercial sensitivities, LGBTQ+ venue cases cannot be listed.

London Fashion Week Funding

Susan Hall: How much money has the Mayor given to London fashion week each year from 2015 to 2020?

The Mayor: The UK’s fashion industry generates £32 billion a year for the UK economy. London Fashion Week is delivered by the note for profit British Fashion Council and is the UK’s major trade event. In 2018-19, London Fashion Week delivered £110 million in new orders, investment and trade. The Mayor’s funding supports the delivery of London Fashion Week and business development schemes NEWGEN and the London Fashion Showcasing Fund.
The GLA has funded the British Fashion Council since 2011 to help retain and develop London’s position as a world leading capital of culture. Between 2015-16 and 2019-20 grants were as follows:
2015-16 £649,000
2016-17 £649,000
2017-18 £649,000
2018-19 £659,000
2019-20 £649,000

Night Czar Progress (1)

Susan Hall: How many pubs has the night czar prevented from closure? Please list.

The Mayor: Pubs are a key part of London's heritage and act as vital community hubs. Pub numbers in London fell by 27% between 2001- 2017 due to increased rent and business rates, licensing changes and redevelopment.
Since 2016, my Culture at Risk Office has successfully supported 43 pubs that were at risk of closure and that have remained opened or will be reopened. My Night Czar supports the Culture at Risk Office on a case by case basis where appropriate.
GLA Economics analysis of Inter-Departmental Business Register data shows that pub numbers in London remained stable between 2017 and 2018 for the first time since 2001.London’s first Cultural Infrastructure Map provides open source data on the location of cultural assets across the capital, including pubs, to help protect them.
Due to commercial sensitivities, the pubs cannot be listed.

London Borough of Culture Tube Station signs

Susan Hall: At which stations have you changed the station name signage because of the London borough of culture? Please provide a breakdown of how many signs, at which stations and at what cost.

The Mayor: To engage residents and visitors with London Borough of Culture in Waltham Forest and Brent, new roundels were created by the GLA, TfL and the boroughs.
In Waltham Forest, 16 ‘Welcome to the Forest’ roundels were installed in seven stations; at Walthamstow Central, Blackhorse Road, Leyton, Leytonstone, Chingford and Highams Park. The cost to the GLA was £2909.52. Footfall at Walthamstow Central station alone over the weekend of 11-13 January, for the opening show ‘Welcome to the Forest’ was 139,449 people.
In Brent, 27 ‘Welcome to the Borough of Cultures’ roundels were installed in eleven stations; at Willesden Green, Kilburn, Brondesbury Park, Kensal Rise, Kingsbury, Preston Road, Wembley Central, Queen’s Park, Kensal Green, Willesden Junction and Kilburn High Road. The cost to the GLA was £1417.17.
The cost across the two boroughs differs due to the size and installation cost of each roundel, depending on what station it is, and whether it is overground or underground.

South Kensington Tube Station

Tony Devenish: One of my constituents has contacted me regarding the “daily chaos on the stairways at South Kensington” Tube Station. They have asked that keep left signs are put in place at the top and bottom of the stairs. Will you ensure that this happens?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) is aware of the crowding issues at South Kensington station's ticket hall and stairs to the District and Circle line platforms. The station, which is a listed heritage site, receives over 34 million visitors every year, but it is still operating under a layout which was designed for fewer passengers. The safe operation of South Kensington Tube station is always TfL’s top priority and processes are in place so that customers are able to move safely through the station.
In the short term, the station’s management team has installed ‘Keep left’ signage on both sides of the staircase which is clearly visible from the ticket barriers and from the bottom of the stairs. They have also positioned a noticeboard at the top of the stairs with a much larger print ‘Keep left’ sign affixed. During the busiest times and when staff numbers allow, a member of station staff is also positioned at the top of the stairs to encourage people to keep left. Due to safety reasons no sign can be positioned at the bottom of the stairs.
In the long term, plans are underway to significantly enhance the station’s capacity and accessibility. One of the features of the South Kensington station upgrade scheme is a new staircase leading from an expanded ticket hall area down to a dedicated eastbound platform. This will make journeys through the station quicker and easier for customers.

AirBnB 1

Tony Devenish: For each of the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 how many reports of crimes have been received about AirBnB premises broken down by borough and crime type?

The Mayor: Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide this information. Offences committed in relation to premises that may be used for short term lets/AirBnB are not identifiable from the MPS crime recording information system.

Monitoring of Bus Use on Mare Street 2

Jennette Arnold: Please provide the bus usage data from the monitoring work undertaken since July 2019 at Bus stop Mare St / Well St (LB) including dates and times when monitoring took place. Please provide a month by month breakdown. Please also explain how bus users unable to board buses have been monitored in this data.

The Mayor: Please see my answer to Mayor's Question 2020/0463.

Monitoring of Bus Use on Mare Street 3

Jennette Arnold: Please provide the bus usage data from the monitoring work undertaken since July 2019 at Bus stop Mare St / Well St (LC) including dates and times when monitoring took place. Please provide a month by month breakdown. Please also explain how bus users unable to board buses have been monitored in this data.

The Mayor: Please see my answer toMayor's Question 2020/0463.

Monitoring of Bus Use on Mare Street 5

Jennette Arnold: Please provide the bus usage data from the monitoring work undertaken at Bus stop Hackney Town Hall (B) including dates and times when monitoring took place. Please provide a month by month breakdown. Please also explain how bus users unable to board buses have been monitored in this data.

The Mayor: Please refer to answer provided toMayor's Question 2020/0463.

Monitoring of Bus Use on Mare Street 6

Jennette Arnold: Please provide the bus usage data from the monitoring work undertaken at Bus stop Mare St / Victoria Park (Q) including dates and times when monitoring took place. Please provide a month by month breakdown. Please also explain how bus users unable to board buses have been monitored in this data.

The Mayor: Please refer to answer provided toMayor's Question 2020/0463.

Government funding announcements for schools

Jennette Arnold: Do the Government’s recent promises on school funding promise to make a difference for schools in London that have been afflicted by cuts over the last decade?

The Mayor: I am concerned about the continuing funding pressures on London schools and it is crucial that London gets a fair share of the Government’s recently announced schools funding.
London Councils’ analysis of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Allocations 2020-21 show that London boroughs will see the lowest percentage increase, 4.4per centsince 2019-20 compared to 5.9 per centnationally. London’s share of the DSG will fall by 0.3 per cent, while all other authority types will increase. As only 1.7 per cnetof London primary schools (or 33 London primary schools) and 5.8 per centof London secondary schools (or 27 London secondary schools) have per pupil funding lower than the announced 2020-21 minimum per pupil funding levels, a smaller proportion of London schools will experience increases in their per-pupil funding compared to other authority types.
London is experiencing continued pressures on school places with an increased need projected at secondary age and a decrease in need at primary. This presents new challenges as head teachers in some areas of the capital grapple with the impact that declining pupil numbers has on school budgets.

Inequalities in language study

Jennette Arnold: The British Council has recently reported on the inequalities in language study at GCSE, with girls far more likely than boys to choose to study modern foreign languages (MFL). Given the importance of MFL to London’s economy and to the future jobs market, what are you doing to address these disparities?

The Mayor: It is concerning that learning languages at school have hit an 18-year low and that there is disparity between boys and girls choosing to take MFLs. In London, 13 per centmore girls choose GCSE Languages as part of their Ebacc than boys. This gap is slightly narrower than the national average which shows 14% more girls choosing GCSE Languages than boys.
More young Londoners are choosing to study Languages as part of their Ebacc than elsewhere in the country. In Inner London, 70 per centof girls choose to study Language GCSE at Ebacc compared to a national average of 54 per cent. There is a similar trend with boys, with 57 per cent of boys in Inner London studying Language GCSE at Ebacc compared to a national average of 40 per cent.
Gender stereotypes contribute to the imbalance we see in take up of subjects like MFL.
I have invested in a Gender Action schools award programme developed by educational partners, including the University Council of Modern Languages, to support teachers to tackle this in London schools, to ensure both boys and girls have equal opportunities.
Learning languages is vital at a time when the global economy means we need to communicate with the world better than ever before. I will continue to advocate that gaining qualifications across a breadth of subjects is essential to meet the full needs of the London economy.

Monitoring of Bus Use on Mare Street 1

Jennette Arnold: Please provide the bus usage data from the monitoring work undertaken since July 2019 in at Bus stop Mare St / Well St (LA) including dates and times when monitoring took place. Please provide a month by month breakdown. Please also explain how bus users unable to board buses have been monitored in this data.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) is monitoring demand on bus routes through Hackney Central following recent changes which included the withdrawal of route 48 and increasing the frequency on route 26. Routes 26 and 55 continue to provide 18 buses per hour in Mare Street during the busiest times.
TfL undertook an on-street survey at stop ‘LA’ on 11 December 2019 of buses travelling towards central London during the morning peak from 07.00 to 10.00. This stop was selected as existing data showed it to be the point where loads are highest. No surveys were carried out at stops LB, LC, A, B, Q or R.
TfL staff at stop ‘LA’ logged passenger boarding, alighting, bus load and passengers unable to board if applicable. These counts showed that capacity overall was fairly well matched to demand with no passengers left behind. In some cases, following a larger than scheduled gap in service, buses were very busy but another bus with available seats arrived within five minutes.
Further on-street surveys are planned with the next one to be undertaken on Hackney Road. These surveys are undertaken on an ad hoc basis and are not available month-by-month.
TfL’s automated data is also used to monitor loads. TfL will continue to monitor the effects of the service changes over the coming weeks using the automated data and the survey on Hackney Road and will analyse bus demand and capacity data to assess whether any additional capacity is needed.
Routes 26 and 55 have experienced some performance issues with work to transform Old Street ongoing, and performance will be kept under review.

Monitoring of Bus Use on Mare Street 7

Jennette Arnold: Please provide the bus usage data from the monitoring work undertaken at Bus stop Mare St / Victoria Park (R) including dates and times when monitoring took place. Please provide a month by month breakdown. Please also explain how bus users unable to board buses have been monitored in this data.

The Mayor: Please refer to answer provided to Mayor's Question 2020/0463.

Travelling Without a Valid Ticket on the TfL Network 1

Jennette Arnold: Please provide details of the number of people caught travelling without a valid ticket across the TfL network in the years 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19. Please provide a breakdown year by year.

The Mayor: The attached table indicates the number of penalty fares issued and irregularity reports submitted (for consideration for prosecution) across the Transport for London network per year.

London and Partners Audience Engagement Perceptions Change

Susan Hall: What percentage change in audience engagement perceptions have London and Partners achieved annually since 2015?

The Mayor: London & Partners introduced an audience perception measure into their methodology in financial year 18/19 to align with their new strategy.
They have achieved:

London Power Staffing Costs

Susan Hall: What staffing costs have already been paid and what are the expected annual staffing costs for London Power?

The Mayor: To date, £171,000 has been spent on staffing costs directly attributable to setting up London Power. The budget allocated for staff time for ongoing management of London Power is approximately £312,000 per year.

London Borough of Culture Funding

Susan Hall: Which parts of the London Borough of Culture programme does the Mayor fund and which parts are the London boroughs expected to fund themselves? Please give a breakdown.

The Mayor: London Borough of Culture is about placing culture at the heart of communities, bringing people together to experience and make culture on their doorstep and creating positive opportunities for young people.
Round one of the London Borough of Culture programme received funds from a number of sources, including the GLA, the City Bridge Trust, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the winning boroughs and a range of other sponsors.
Winning boroughs commit to raising a minimum of 30 per centmatch funding to deliver their programmes. For example, Waltham Forest successfully raised an additional £1m and Brent has already raised £922,000. Boroughs are responsible for the allocation and management of their budgets.
I have awarded £1.35m to each London Borough of Culture title award winner, and have funded The Agency in Waltham Forest and Brent, a creative entrepreneurs programme for young people aged 15-25, from underserved areas.

London Borough of Culture 2019 Jobs

Susan Hall: Please can you list all jobs and salaries for people who worked on the London Borough of Culture 2019 and specify where the funding for these jobs comes from?

The Mayor: The Culture and Creative Industries Unit at the GLA funded 1.8 FTE posts to deliver London Borough of Culture 2019; one Senior Policy Officer at grade 9 and one Co-ordinator at grade 8.

London Borough of Culture 2020 Jobs

Susan Hall: Please can you list all jobs and salaries for people working on the London Borough of Culture 2020 and specify where the funding for these jobs comes from?

The Mayor: The Culture and Creative Industries Unit at the GLA is funding 3 posts (2.1 FTE) to deliver London Borough of Culture 2020: one Senior Policy Officer at grade 9; one Co-ordinator at grade 8 and one Policy and Projects Officer at grade 7.

London Borough of Culture 2020 Jobs (2)

Susan Hall: How much money is the London borough of Brent having to spend on jobs relating to Brent 2020 as a result of the Mayor's London borough of culture programme?

The Mayor: The London Borough of Culture programme received funds from a number of sources, including the GLA, the City Bridge Trust, The Heritage Lottery Fund, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Brent Council and a range of other sponsors.
Brent committed to raising at least 30 per centmatch funding, and has already raised £922,000, including £500,000 from Wembley Park. All budgets, staffing and contractual matters are managed by Brent directly and they are responsible for the allocation of the budget, including to jobs.

Street Party Production Manager

Susan Hall: What is the salary of a Street Party Production Manager for the London Borough of Culture 2020 and who is funding this?

The Mayor: Brent’s London Borough of Culture programme received funds from a number of sources, including the GLA, the City Bridge Trust, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Brent Council and a range of other sponsors.
Brent Council is solely responsible for contracting staff to deliver the programme.

GCSE Maths and English

Susan Hall: What steps have you taken to increase the number of young Londoners passing GCSE Maths and English before the post-16 resit?

The Mayor: I am proud that in the last three years, London had the highest proportion of pupils achieving a pass in English and Maths GCSE of any region in England. Despite this, there are still over 25,000 pupils in the capital who do not achieve a 9 to 4 pass in their GCSE maths and English. While I take a strategic role in supporting schools across London, I do not have any statutory responsibility for primary or secondary education.
Through the European Social Fund, I am investing £8m to support 15 to 19 year olds who are at risk of dropping out from school or college. The programme aims to improve pathways between key stage 4 and 5, and from key stage 5 to employment or further education. Young people on the programme will be encouraged to take-up and attend wrap-around support to assist with their maths and English GCSEs. Other activities include mentoring, family support, and employability training.
I am pleased that 90 per cent of teachers accessing my London Scientist programme said it had increased student’s confidence with STEM subjects, including maths. So far 7,000 children from under-represented backgrounds have gained the CREST award, the top national accreditation scheme for school STEM projects.

Isle of Dogs Ferry

Navin Shah: Following MQ 2019/0341 can you update me on the further detailed considerationcarried out for a North Greenwich-Isle of Dogs ferry?

The Mayor: Building on initial feasibility work, Transport for London is continuing to work with local councils to determine the feasibility of, and most appropriate location for, new piers on the eastern side of the Isle of Dogs, at Silvertown and on the Greenwich peninsula. This includes working with developers to support the delivery of new pier infrastructure and investigate options to fund new cross river ferry operations.
This work is taking place alongside the development of a new clean, fast, frequent ferry service between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf. This presents an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the potential of new cross-river pedestrian and cycle ferry services, which could then be replicated at other locations.

Lane rental scheme (1)

Navin Shah: How many lane rental scheme permits have been a) applied for and b) issued since 2012? Please provide figures by financial year.

The Mayor: The table attached provides the numbers of road and street works permit applications received and granted by Transport for London (TfL) for streets where Lane Rental applies, broken down by financial year since 2012.
Please note the following in relation to the attached table

Lane rental scheme (2)

Navin Shah: How many days of disruption were avoided due to the lane rental scheme? Please provide figures by financial year.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) records the benefits of the Lane Rental scheme in a series of annual monitoring reports, which are published on its website https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/urban-planning-and-construction/our-land-and-infrastructure/lane-rental-scheme#on-this-page-3. The measure which is applicable to your question is “changes to planned carriageway works”. This metric is based on the outcomes of discussions between TfL and utility companies during the works planning stage. The metric calculates the number of work days saved on the Lane Rental network by deducting the final agreed duration from the duration originally proposed by the utility. The figures for each full financial year since TfL began capturing this data are in the attached table. For example, in financial year 2018/19 a total of 1,317 days of disruption were saved.

Crime Rates on Public Transport (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: Rates of theft have risen sharply on the London Underground network in the last year. Will you take the urgent action necessary to tackle this worrying trend?

The Mayor: Despite the London Underground network remaining a safe, low crime environment, we have seen an increase in theft offences over the last year. The rise can be in part explained by the British Transport Police (BTP) launching online reporting in October 2018 which means that the BTP is now recording offences which may have previously gone unreported.
Transport for London (TfL) and the BTP have put measures in place to reverse the upward trend in theft offences on London Underground. These measures are already having a positive impact, with fewer passengers becoming a victim of theft over the last six months.
The police are using a range of tactics to deter, detect and disrupt this criminal activity including plain clothes and uniformed officer patrols, large scale operations and investigations. This significant police effort is being supported with crime prevention activity, with messages broadcast across TfL’s stations and trains. The Metropolitan Police Service and BTP have run three intensive operations over the last six months – named Operation Farrier - to pursue the criminals behind the rise in theft. They made some significant arrests leading to notable custodial sentences.

Crime Rates on Public Transport (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: Crime rates on London’s public transport network have increased year on year for the last five years. How are you ensuring people feel safe on London’s transport network?

The Mayor: London’s public transport network remains a safe, low crime environment, where eleven million passengers travel every day with very few of them ever experiencing or witnessing crime. For every million passenger journeys, there are nine reported crimes – compared to 21 crimes per million passenger journeys on the national rail network. There has been an increase in crime levels on London’s public transport network in recent years, which is primarily driven by an increase in theft offences and low-level violence and aggression between passengers.
Transport for London (TfL) has maintained its significant investment in dedicated policing for the transport network, providing funding for over 2,500 uniformed officers. These dedicated officers have prioritised high harm offences including sexual offences, hate crime and serious violence, including activities to increase reporting. We know that sexual offences and hate crime have historically been under-reported and significant effort has been put into building confidence and support to encourage reporting, so that police can take action on perpetrators and meet the long-term aspiration to eradicate unwanted sexual behaviour and hate crime from London’s transport network.
The Roads and Transport Policing Command and British Transport Police also worked hard over the last 12 months to keep knives and weapons off the network. Concerted action is underway to deal with the highest volume crime such as theft and low-level violence. Working with TfL, the police use a range of tactics including high visibility and covert patrols, joint operations with TfL, and engagement activity to keep staff and passengers safe.

Decentralised Energy Enabling Project (DEEP) (1)

Leonie Cooper: Can you provide an update on the Decentralised Energy Enabling Project (DEEP)?

The Mayor: Decentralised Energy Enabling Project (DEEP) is providing public sector intervention and support to larger-scale decentralised energy (DE) projects in London that the market is failing to develop and realise. DEEP procures the support services to help London boroughs and other beneficiaries bring larger-scale DE schemes into operation to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and increase renewable energy generation capacity in London.
To date DEEP hasfundedup to 40 projects in total, supporting 19 beneficiaries. Through my support for low carbon heating DEEP has helped London boroughs and private sector projects secure £25 million of government funding to connect more homes to London’s growing heat networks.

London Power Community Projects

Andrew Boff: Which community projects will London Power be reinvesting profits in to and how are these projects chosen?

The Mayor: I have committed that any profits made by City Hall will be re-invested back into London’s communities on social and environmental projects.I will take decisions on exactly how to do this in the future, in line with the usual GLA procedures.

London Power (3)

Andrew Boff: What liability does the GLA have for any losses accrued by London Power?

The Mayor: The GLA has no liability for any losses accrued by Octopus Energy under the London Power brand, therefore has no liability for any losses associated with the costs of delivering the London Power service.
The only costs for which the GLA is liable are our own costs associated with contract management (primarily staffing costs). To fund these costs, the GLA is providing a revolving loan facility (up to a maximum of £906,000) to London Power Co. Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the GLA established to manage the London Power contract. The GLA would be liable in the event that London Power Co. Limited defaulted on part of this loan.

Female officer numbers

Unmesh Desai: Please provide the total MPS Police officer (FTE) percentage breakdown of female officers to male officers in December of each of the following years: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) regularly publishes information on the diversity of its officers.Please see the information held at: www.met.police.uk/sd/stats-and-data/met/workforce-data-report/

LGBT Officer numbers

Unmesh Desai: Please provide the total MPS Police officer (FTE) percentage breakdown of LGBT officers to total officers in December of each of the following years: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) regularly publishes information on the diversity of its officers.
Please see the information held at: www.met.police.uk/sd/stats-and-data/met/workforce-data-report/

Duckie Loves Fanny

Andrew Boff: Which LGBT charity did Amy Lamé donate the £1000 she earned from the Duckie Loves Fanny event to?

The Mayor: Amy Laméhas made a donation of £1,000 less the tax she paid to Galop – an LGBTQ+ anti-violence charity.

Burglary

Susan Hall: For each of the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 please provide the highest amount recorded by the Met as being taken in a burglary, the medium, the average and the mean?

The Mayor: This information cannot be provided as the way in which the value of property is recorded on MPS crime recording system (estimated cost) does not allow for an accurate representation of the value of property to be calculated.

City Hall Opinion Polls

Susan Hall: Since 2015 how many City Hall Mayoral opinion polls have been conducted per year and at what cost?

The Mayor: The number of opinion polls undertaken in any given year varies according to demand. Since 2009, GLA opinion polls are published on the London Datastore: https://data.london.gov.uk/gla-poll-results/. Note that polls are published within three months, with the exception of polls commissioned to support work with a publication date outside of the three-month window (which are published when the publication is released); and polls commissioned to track a trend (which are published after the last survey in a series has been conducted in order to prevent surveys in the series that have still to be conducted being skewed by premature publication of some results).
Decisions MD2082, DD2042, and DD1319 (available on the GLA legacy website) set out the expenditure on opinion polling services from 2015 to 2021:
https://www.london.gov.uk/decisions/md2082-periodic-polling-programme
https://www.london.gov.uk/decisions/dd2042-periodic-polling-programme

London Borough of Culture Sponsorship

Susan Hall: What efforts have been made to secure sponsorship for the London Borough of Culture programme each year and what sponsorship have you been successful in securing?

The Mayor: Sponsorship has played an important role in supporting London Borough of Culture. For the overall programme, my Culture Unit secured £300,000 grant funding from City Bridge Trust and £200,000 sponsorship from Airbnb for activity in 2019 and 2020.
For London Borough of Culture 2019, Waltham Forest secured an additional £1m of funding for their programme including £200,000 in corporate sponsorship from a range of sponsors, including The Mall, Walthamstow, Uber Eats, Taylor Wimpey and Legal and General at Blackhorse Mills. So far, Brent has secured £500,000 from Wembley Park and £290,000 in corporate sponsorship from St. George’s, Infosys, Network Homes and Wates Foundation.

London Borough of Culture Programme

Susan Hall: What events and activities are planned to be included in the London Borough of Culture programme for 2020-2023 and at what cost?

The Mayor: Brent’s full programme for 2020 can be found on their website: www.brent2020.co.uk. Brent’s programme has received funds from a number of sources, including the GLA, the City Bridge Trust, The Heritage Lottery Fund, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Brent council and a range of other sponsors.
The winning boroughs for 2021 and 2023 were announced on 11 February 2020 and have not published their programmes yet but Lewisham (2021) will celebrate its diversity and build inclusivity using hundreds of events throughout the year. Croydon (2023) will involve tens of thousands of residents in events including 23 art commissions with local communities.
Three boroughs won Cultural Impact Awards as part of London Borough of Culture and they will receive up to £200,000 each. Haringey will put on a large-scale feast with local makers and artists, raising funds for food banks. Hammersmith and Fulham will run a music training programme for excluded young people. Sutton’s new art and science projects will encourage girls to become scientists.

North London Warm Homes programme

Caroline Russell: The North London Warm Homes programme is due to conclude this month. Could you provide information on: a) lessons learned, and b) how many homes have been advised, benefitted or improved?

The Mayor: The North London Warm Homes programme allocated up to £300,000 for the boroughs of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey to participate in a £3 million programme, in partnership with National Grid, to deliver energy upgrades in social and private rented homes. The programme represented an opportunity to explore and consider new opportunities to develop, support and augment my Warmer Homes programme and Warmer Homes Advice Service to help tackle fuel poverty in London.
National Grid, the majority funder of the overall programme, cancelled the initiative due to poor uptake - only four properties of the expected 40 were delivered, at a total cost of £27,393. The delivery team in the boroughs have cited difficulty engaging residents to accept first-time gas connections, in part due to nervousness around retrofit so soon after the Grenfell tragedy. Furthermore, installations were held back due to National Grid’s reluctance to allow Air Source Heat Pumps to be installed under the programme.
Unallocated funding is to be repurposed through the main GLA Warmer Homes programme or my Retrofit Accelerator - Homes programme.

London Borough of Culture Funding

Susan Hall: What efforts have been made to secure external funding for the London Borough of Culture programme each year and what funding have you been successful in securing?

The Mayor: My Culture team set up a Strategic Partners Board, which includes the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England, and each has given significant funding directly to both Waltham Forest for 2019 and Brent for 2020. City Bridge Trust also funded the London Borough of Culture programme with £300,000 and Airbnb with £200,000 in 2019 and 2020, supporting projects for local communities and young people in Waltham Forest and Brent.
In total, Waltham Forest raised £1m in sponsorship and fundraising, including £200,000 from a range of sponsors: The Mall, Walthamstow, Uber Eats, Taylor Wimpey and Legal and General at Blackhorse Mills. So far, Brent has secured £922,000 in funding and sponsorship, including £500,000 from Wembley Park.

Music Venue Safety Improvements

Susan Hall: What improvements to the safety of London music venues have been made following the scrapping of Form 696?

The Mayor: In 2017 I called for the Met Police to review the Form 696 risk assessment process, which was widely seen as unfairly targeting grime, garage and RnB acts. Following a full review, Form 696 was scrapped.
Since its removal, my Night Czar has established the Safer Sounds Partnership. Led by the music and events industry and supported by the Police and local authorities, it offers advice, intelligence and training to venues and promoters to support safer events across London.
To date, Safer Sounds Partnership has trained over 711 people and engaged with over 100 businesses. Training already delivered includes Welfare and Vulnerability Engagement, Spotting and Reporting Suspicious Behaviour and Entrance and Search Policy. 95% of participants stated that the training positively affected how they will work in the future.
Representatives from Safer Sounds Partnership attend the monthly Licensing Liaison Group, chaired by the Night Czar, alongside the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, the Police and local authorities. Safer Sounds organised the first Stay Safe in London Conference in October 2019, which brought together operators, promoters, Police, local authorities and security companies.

LGBT+ Venues

Susan Hall: Can you provide the number of LGBT+ venues in London each year since 2015?

The Mayor: LGBTQ+ venues are important community spaces for Londoners, providing safe and welcoming places to meet and making a significant contribution to the night-time economy. But these venues are at risk, the number of LGBTQ+ venues in London fell by 62% from 2006 to 2017 due to the pressures of development and rising rents and business rates.
As part of London’s first ever Cultural Infrastructure Plan, I am publishing an annual audit of LGBTQ+ venues. The audit began in 2017 and there were 47 venues; in 2018 there were 51. In 2019,the number of LGBTQ+ venues in the capital remained stable at 51 for the first time in ten years.

Public toilets on the Transport for London network

Caroline Russell: Last year Network Rail made all toilets at their stations free of charge. When will you ask Transport for London (TfL) to do the same?

The Mayor: In the new London Plan I will be putting in place steps to ensure more free, clean, safe and accessible public toilets are made available to Londoners across the capital. London Overground and TfL Rail toilet facilities are already free of charge. On London Underground, Transport for London (TfL) is continuing to work on improving toilet provision across the network, including looking to remove fees for using facilities.
However, there are operational considerations TfL is still working through, including the deterrence of anti-social behaviour. TfL is currently piloting a range of improvements to toilets on the Jubilee line to ensure that its overall approach is deliverable and sustainable. TfL is also engaging with local station staff on changes to ensure that toilets can be properly managed.

Air quality audits for schools

Caroline Russell: You have not provided the funding for air quality audits for all schools where air pollution is exceeding legal limits. In 2017 you announced funding for 50 school air quality audits. On 21 January 2020 you announced further funding for an extra 200 schools but there are still 200 schools that need one. Why have you not fully funded audits for all schools with toxic air pollution?

The Mayor: My announcement on 21 January 2020, celebrated the fact that five of London’s most polluted boroughs – Brent, Islington, Newham, Southwark and Westminster have committed to extend my air quality audit programme to help cut pollution in their schools.
Under my pilot scheme, detailed air quality audits were carried out in 50 schools across 23 London boroughs. The audits assessed the air quality in some of the capital’s worst polluted schools and made a series of recommendations to protect pupils. As part of the programme I provided each of the 50 audited schools with a £10,000 starter grant and enabled any of the other London schools located in areas exceeding legal air pollution limits to apply for green infrastructure funding. I also developed a toolkit to enable boroughs and others to roll out the audit approach more widely.
Thanks to the expansion of the scheme by these five boroughs, two hundred schools in areas of high air pollution will put in place measures to protect pupils from toxic air. I have strongly encouraged the other boroughs, who have statutory air quality and public health responsibilities, to follow suit so that all schools located in areas which exceed legal pollution limits receive an air quality audit. Through TfL’s Local Implementation Plan funding, and my £22 million Mayor’s Air Quality Fund, millions of pounds have been made available to London’s boroughs to take action to reduce emissions and exposure at London’s schools.

24-hour Vision for London

Susan Hall: What KPIs are you using to measure the success or failure of your 24-hour vision for London?

The Mayor: My ‘Vision for London as a 24-Hour City’ sets out ten principles for the sustainable development of London at night. The London Night Time Commission’s report,‘Think Night’,published in January 2019, made ten practical recommendations to help realise the Vision. These are being delivered by my teams at City Hall working closing with TfL, London & Partners and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.
Key performance indicators include levels of engagement with Londoners, businesses, local authorities and other stakeholders, for example through Night Surgeries and the Night Time Borough Champions Network. Night time cultural infrastructure is measured through annual audits as part of London’s Cultural Infrastructure Plan, including LGBTQ+ venues, pubs and music venues. The number of night time strategies delivered by boroughs and the number of signatories to the Women’s Night Safety Summit are also measured.

Ten principles of the 24-hour Vision for London

Susan Hall: How you have achieved the ten principles of your 24-hour vision for London? Please give a breakdown for each principle.

The Mayor: My Vision for London as a 24-Hour City sets out ten principles for the sustainable development of London at night. The London Night Time Commission’s report, ‘Think Night’, made ten practical recommendations to help realise the Vision. I am achieving these through programmes which are delivered by multiple policy teams at City Hall and by TfL, London & Partners and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime. These include:

Taxis and Bus Lanes (4)

Navin Shah: What bus lanes on borough roads remain inaccessible to Taxis? Please provide a list of them including their length and start and end points.

The Mayor: Approximately 8 per cent of the bus lanes on borough roads are inaccessible for taxis. The attached list provides the requested information.

Taxis and Bus Lanes (2)

Navin Shah: What bus lanes on the TfL Road Network remain inaccessible to Taxis? Please provide a list of them including their length and start and end points.

The Mayor: Taking information from Transport for London’s (TfL) Bus Lane database, taxis are not permitted access to around 5 per cent of the bus lane length on the TfL Road Network. A list of the locations is attached.

Business Low Emission Neighbourhoods

Leonie Cooper: When will the new Business Low Emission Neighbourhoods be installed?

The Mayor: I have already successfully supported six Business Low Emission Neighbourhoods (BLENs) in Southwark, Hackney, Islington, Westminster, Camden, and Hammersmith & Fulham with a total of £1 million. These BLENs were completed in summer 2019 and delivered freight reduction and innovative public realm schemes, as well as cycling and walking infrastructure.
Earlier this year I announced a further £1.75 million in London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP) funding to deliver six more business-led Low Emission Neighbourhoods. These are London Road Healthy High Street Project (Croydon), Tower Hamlets Town Centres and Markets (Tower Hamlets), Ley Street (Redbridge), North End Road (Hammersmith and Fulham), Thesally Road (Wandsworth) and Leytonstone (Waltham Forest). These projects include innovative initiatives to support market traders to reduce emissions in Tower Hamlets, and a rapid charging hub in Redbridge.
These BLENs are scheduled for completion by April 2022.

Command unit crew training increase

Andrew Dismore: By when will the training of command unit crews to increase the number of trained staff from 96 to 244 be complete?

The Mayor: All command unit crews will have completed their training by the end of March 2021.

West Hampstead reoccupation

Andrew Dismore: Are works on schedule to meet the predicted summer 2020 reoccupation date for LFB’s West Hampstead cottages?

The Mayor: Yes, works are on schedule to meet the predicted summer 2020 reoccupation date for LFB’s West Hampstead cottages.

Maths attainment for London Children

Susan Hall: What steps have you taken to close the three-year gap in maths attainment between children in London and those in Shanghai?

The Mayor: London has a lot to be proud of when it comes to education and pupils in the city are now consistently amongst the highest performers in the country. For the last three years, London had the highest proportion of pupils achieving a pass in Maths GCSE of any region in England. But, PISA education test results which compare the UK against 79 countries and regions, are a reminder that education in London needs to continue improving.
While I do not have any statutory responsibility for primary or secondary education I do support London’s education system through programmes including Schools for Success, Teach London and the London Curriculum. My London Education Report provides detailed up-to-date information on secondary education. Schools for Success recognises London’s schools that are tackling low student achievement and are willing to help others. For example, at the recent LondonEd research for schools conference at City Hall, Maryland Primary School (a Schools for Success School) shared how they have changed teaching practices using insights from maths teaching in China, Japan and Sweden.
The 2018 PISA education results show the UK increased its ranking in maths achievement against other countries from 27th in 2015 to 18th. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/855985/PISA_2018_England_national_report_accessible.pdf

Crossrail drivers (3)

Susan Hall: For Crossrail drivers currently in employment, can you provide details of the work that they are doing?

The Mayor: Train drivers on TfL Rail are employed by MTR Elizabeth line to operate the service on behalf of Transport for London.
All drivers employed are either operating passenger services or involved with testing the new trains.
All qualified drivers are included on the roster and drive trains. Drivers currently operate services between:
• Liverpool Street and Shenfield
• Liverpool Street and Gidea Park
• Paddington and Hayes & Harlington
• Paddington and Heathrow Airport (former Heathrow Connect services)
• Paddington and Reading
Drivers also operate the inter-terminal transfer (between T4 and T123 within Heathrow Airport) and are also carrying out Dynamic Testing with trains in the new Central Operating Section between Westbourne Park and Abbey Wood.

OPDC Funding streams

Caroline Pidgeon: Can you provide a list of the funding streams OPDC is currently engaged in including central government funding schemes and schemes from other public sector bodies? These can include funding streams that the OPDC is:
Currently bidding for;


Intending to bid for;


Or has successfully/unsuccessfully bid for in the last 12 months.

The Mayor: Please see below the list of funding streams secured or bid for by OPDC in the last 12 months.
Awaiting outcome:

London and Partners Staff

Susan Hall: Please list London and Partners' staff numbers and staff costs for each year from 2015?

The Mayor: Please see the table below:
Actual
Actual
Actual
Actual
2018/19
2017/18
2016/17
2015/16
Number of staff
204
200
178
161
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
Salary costs
11,603
11,460
9,754
8,555
Source: Signed and audited financial statements up to 31.03.19

Mayoral Appointees' Declarations

Andrew Boff: Do all of your Mayoral appointees declare all earnings from GLA resources?

The Mayor: Members of staff appointed by the Mayor, like all senior staff and elected Members, are required to declare their interests and these interests are published online. The register of interests declaration includes a requirement to declare ‘details of any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain by the individual or their partner.’ They are required to confirm, on a six-monthly basis, that the information supplied is up-to-date.
The salary of Mayoral advisors is reported on their profile page on the GLA website.

Carbon reduction from new homes

Leonie Cooper: The latest Energy Monitoring Report shows that most new developments in London are able to meet your 35% reduction above building regulations target in the London Plan. Does that mean we need a higher target?

The Mayor: The 2018 Energy Monitoring Report shows an average carbon reduction of 36.9 per cent across referable applications only. The 35 per cent target applies to all major development and reflects what is technically achievable for a wide range of development scales and typologies.
The target is a minimum requirement and we actively encourage applicants to reach higher performance levels. The introduction of a higher carbon offset price in the new London Plan will also incentivise greater on-site savings from developments.
Government is currently consulting on the new Part L of the Building Regulations. I oppose several proposals, including the removal of local authority powers to set their own carbon reduction targets, which would only slow our progress towards becoming a zero-carbon city. However, I’m committed to maintaining London’s cutting-edge carbon standards and I will continue to push developers to maximise their on-site carbon savings in line with my energy hierarchy.

Retrofit Accelerator (3)

Leonie Cooper: How much do you anticipate bills to fall by for the homes being retrofitted?

The Mayor: The programme’s primary aim is to deliver significant carbon savings. It is logical to assume that every home will have greatly reduced primary energy demand after the retrofits, and so alongside a healthy, warm dwelling, residents will be using less units of energy. However, the programme has made no estimate of the effect the retrofits will have on household bills as this will depend on a number of factors including tariffs and personal preferences.

Retrofit Accelerator (2)

Leonie Cooper: How many homes will be retrofitted under the Retrofit Accelerator?

The Mayor: The Retrofit Accelerator - Homes programme has a target of 1,678 homes being either fully retrofitted, in the process of being retrofitted or in contract to be retrofitted by August 2022. At least 50 homes will undertake a deep retrofit and will be monitored during this period.
’Deep retrofits’ will take a whole house approach and reduce the carbon each home is responsible for by an average of 60% and in many cases to near net-zero energy. For comparison these homes should save 2.5 times as much carbon per home than was achieved on average under the previous RE:NEW programme and 3.5 times as much carbon than was achieved on average under the first phase of the Warmer Homes programme. The level of ambition in the Retrofit Accelerator - Homes programme is aligned with the decarbonisation pathways set out in my 1.5C Compatible Climate Action Plan.
The deep retrofit market in the UK is at an early stage. It is currently expensive and subject to a limited supply chain. Therefore, the programme aims to develop the approaches and models that will leverage finance and drive innovation to enable a mass market, cross tenure, scale up of deep energy efficiency retrofit well beyond the lifetime of the programme.

London and Partners Brand Engagement Perceptions Change

Susan Hall: What percentage change in brand engagement perceptions have London and Partners achieved annually since 2015?

The Mayor: London & Partners introduces a brand perception measure into their methodology in financial year 19/20.
They have achieved a 3 per centincrease in brand perception by audiences exposed to their brand campaigns in the first nine months of the current financial year 19/20.

Night Czar Pay and Register of Interests (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: Do you share my concerns regarding the fact that the Night Czar did not declare in her City Hall register of interests that she had been paid an additional £1,000 for her part introducing an act in your London Borough of Culture celebrations last year?

The Mayor: Waltham Forest Council commissioned Duckie Ltd to put on ‘Duckie Loves Fanny’ in September, an event supporting the LGBTQ+ community in Waltham Forest and beyond. Amy Lamé is not a director of Duckie Ltd and was independently employed by the company as a freelance performer for the event. Amy was paid via Amy Lamé Ltd, a private company that is noted on her register of interests.
Amy’s register of interests is listed here: https://www.london.gov.uk/people/mayoral/amy-lame/register-of-interests
Amy has made a donation of £1,000 less the tax she paid to Galop – an LGBTQ+ anti-violence charity.

London Underground Performance Data Almanac

Navin Shah: The current almanac was released on 05/06/2019 and goes up to period 2 of 2019/20. When will it be updated so to provide the latest figures?

The Mayor: This almanac has now been updated and provides data up to period 9 of 2019/20.

New Tiers of Seating at the Olympic Stadium

Caroline Pidgeon: Can you confirm who will be paying for the planned additional tiers of seating in the Olympic Park stadium? Is it West Ham FC, LLDC, E20 or a combination of these?

The Mayor: The new seating system at London Stadium is for the north and south stands, costing less than £5 million to purchase. These costs will be met by E20 Stadium LLP as the owner of the Stadium.
This new system is one of several ‘spend to save’ initiatives being undertaken to help drive down Stadium operating costs, with the costs of the investment to be recouped over the next four years. Savings will be achieved by decreasing transition time between events as well as seats being easier to store and more flexible for a wider range of events.
The new system will also enhance the spectator experience by moving seats up to 4 metres closer to the pitch.

Night Czar Register of Interests (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: Concerns have been raised regarding your Night Czar, Amy Lamé, and the fact that she was paid an additional £1,000 to open an act in your London Borough of Culture celebrations last year. Do you think it is appropriate that someone who already receives a salary of £75,000 received additional money indirectly from your culture budget?

The Mayor: Waltham Forest Council commissioned Duckie Ltd to put on ‘Duckie Loves Fanny’ in September, an event supporting the LGBTQ+ community in Waltham Forest and beyond. Amy Lamé is not a director of Duckie Ltd and was independently employed by the company as a freelance performer for the event. Amy was paid via Amy Lamé Ltd, a private company that is noted on her register of interests.
Amy has made a donation of £1,000 less the tax she paid to Galop – an LGBTQ+ anti-violence charity.

Night Czar

Caroline Pidgeon: How is the work of the Night Czar monitored by your office, and can you please provide a list of any achievements of the Night Czar in the last 12 months?

The Mayor: The Night Czar reports to the Deputy Mayor for Culture and Creative Industries, and the work of the 24 Hour London team is monitored through the GLA’s quarterly reporting and published to the London Assembly.
In the last 12 months, the Night Czar has established a Night Time Enterprise Zone pilot in Walthamstow to trial innovative ideas to boost the town centre, support local businesses and improve access to shops and services after 6pm. She has increased the number of Women’s Night Safety Charter signatories from 38 to 340 organisations and launched a new Safer Sounds Partnership, to provide safety training and advice for night time venues.
The Night Czar has worked with TfL to set up the Late Night Transport Working Group. She has chaired five Night Time Borough Champions meetings, supporting boroughs to develop their night-time strategies and is developing a new Night Time Data Observatory. She has also undertaken six Night Surgeries in Hounslow, Bromley, Westminster and Hackney, Croydon, Wandsworth and Lewisham.
The Night Czar also works closely with the Culture at Risk Office, which has supported 226 night time venues overall and helped stabilise grassroots music venues and LGBTQ+ venues after a decade of decline.

Bus Operators (2)

Navin Shah: FollowingMQT 2016/1537can you provide figures for 2019?

The Mayor: Please see the table attached and my previous answer to Mayor's Question 2020/0646.

Direct Vision Standard

Navin Shah: How many HGV Safety Permits have been issued? Please break down by the month of issue.

The Mayor: The Direct Vision Standard (DVS) and HGV Safety Permit for Heavy Goods Vehicles is a key part of my Vision Zeroplan to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on London's transport network by 2041. The scheme was created to improve the safety of all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists and requires all lorries over 12 tonnes gross vehicle weight to be granted a permit to enter or operate in Greater London from 26 October 2020.
HGV operators will need to ensure their vehicles meet the minimum DVS star rating and apply for a permit for their vehicles. Operators have been able to apply to Transport for London (TfL) for a permit since October 2019. The total number of DVS permits issued by TfL as at 13 February 2020 is shown in the attached table.

London Datastore Open Data Institute Report (2)

Leonie Cooper: Do you plan on setting timescales for the completion of the recommendations made in the Open Data Institute report?

The Mayor: The Open Data Institute report on the future of the London Datastore set out practical recommendations for how the GLA can better facilitate the sharing of the city’s data in order to boost transparency and support a collaborative approach to tackling London’s challenges. These recommendations include improvements to the website; and the provision of guidance and leadership at a city-wide level to effectively mobilise London’s data community.
The City Intelligence Unit is currently working with the Chief Digital Officer to set out a plan to deliver against these objectives, which they will be happy to share with you in due course.

Weekend Workers Opportunities

Tony Devenish: In reference to an article published by the FT last month (The Truth about Weekend Working), what are you doing to ensure weekend workers have the same opportunities as weekday workers in London?

The Mayor: As the FT article notes, a growing number of Londoners are working at weekends, particularly in lower paid roles. My Good Work Standard sets the benchmark for good employment practices, including fair pay and working conditions, flexible working and accommodating family and caring commitments. I encourage employers in all sectors demonstrate their commitment to good work for weekend workersby becoming accredited.
Availability of childcare was also an important theme of the article. My three Early Years Hubs, located in Newham, Barnet and Wandsworth and Merton, bring together early years providers to improve access to high quality early education for local families. The Hubs are encouraging schools, nurseries and childminders to create new places for two-year-olds and encouraging parents to take-up their child’s entitlement across the different early years education sectors. In addition, in 2017. I commissioned the Family and Childcare Trust to undertake research on the experiences of childminders in London. Childminders are an important part of the early years sector as they offer flexible, quality childcare option for parents working atypical hours.

Domestic buildings retrofit

Leonie Cooper: How many homes per London borough have been treated through your energy efficiency programmes for each year of the last four years?

The Mayor: Far too many people can’t afford to heat their homes. Energy bills are too high, old and inefficient boilers are polluting our air and homes are badly insulated. Colder homes also create health problems and can even lead to early deaths. Work undertaken through my Energy for Londoners programme has helped to make thousands of London’s homes warm, healthy and affordable for their residents – tackling fuel poverty and reducing carbon emissions.
The table provided in Appendix A includes figures of treated homes since May 2016 from the following energy efficiency programmes: London Boiler Cashback Scheme, Better Boilers, RE:NEW and Warmer Homes. The number of homes varies between boroughs as interventions are dependent on the number of applications made in each borough (rather than being apportioned equally).
Appendix A: Number of homes per London borough treated through Mayoral energy efficiency programmes for each year of the last four years:
2016-17
2017-2018
2018-2019
2019-2020
Barking and Dagenham
53
20
12
14
Barnet
164
23
6
7
Bexley
270
10
3
4
Brent
153
15
2
11
Bromley
335
14
32
15
City of London
0
0
0
0
Camden
50
3
5
6
Croydon
311
17
16
41
Ealing
678
26
2
12
Enfield
147
444
58
42
Greenwich
155
16
26
17
Hackney
221
10
20
18
Hammersmith and Fulham
32
8
3
4
Haringey
306
28
32
39
Harrow
114
21
11
4
Havering
114
21
5
5
Hillingdon
116
9
7
7
Hounslow
83
22
11
399
Islington
36
117
12
19
Kensington and Chelsea
18
0
0
3
Kingston upon Thames
98
7
37
49
Lambeth
102
9
11
6
Lewisham
186
19
78
62
Merton
142
8
12
21
Newham
86
48
34
34
Redbridge
127
17
15
14
Richmond upon Thames
94
6
13
10
Southwark
74
3,346
2
2
Sutton
184
1,161
5
11
Tower Hamlets
595
94
2,737
186
Waltham Forest
152
116
40
47
Wandsworth
110
14
49
43
Westminster
34
2
0
0

London’s high streets

Leonie Cooper: How is the Mayor ensuring a cohesive approach to London’s high streets in all his areas of responsibility especially the economy and business and not just from a planning and regeneration perspective?

The Mayor: My London Plantakes a strong ‘town centres first’ approach, focusing commercial development in town centres, with employment, entertainment, retail and other commercial uses helping to attract customers to a vibrant mix of businesses.
My Economic Development Strategy encourages boroughs to deliver strategies in partnership with local businesses and residents, for the regeneration that London’s high streets and town centres need. £26m of my Good Growth Fund investments have been directed towards high street and town centre improvements.
In developing the High streets – Adaptive Strategies guidance, my Regeneration and Economic Development team has worked together with industry representatives and my Mayor’s Design Advocates, to understand existing challenges and opportunities for high streets and town centres. The guidance will support London’s boroughs and others to develop their own adaptive strategies, to achieve long-lasting positive change.

2020 Borough of Culture (2)

Leonie Cooper: How will you be working with the London Borough of Brent to ensure young people are involved in the Brent 2020 London Borough of Culture programme?

The Mayor: Young people are at the heart of Brent’s year as London Borough of Culture. The Brent Blueprint Collective is a leadership programme of 82 16-30 year olds, involved in all decisions from programming to budgeting.
Young people are running projects, for example, Seen and Heard, a collaboration with the London School of Economics, supporting better public spaces for young people in London. VENT, a weekly podcast series, is being made by young people about current affairs that affect them. The Agency, a creative entrepreneurs programme for young people from underserved areas is enabling young people to create their own projects. Young people are also curating a music concert at the SE Wembley Arena.

2020 Borough of Culture (1)

Leonie Cooper: What lessons have been learnt from the London Borough of Culture in Waltham Forest and how will this learning and best practice be applied to the Brent 2020 London Borough of Culture programme?

The Mayor: My first ever London Borough of Culture in Waltham Forest has been hugely successful. The Council has described the experience as ‘life changing’. The programme engaged every school in the borough and 1,000 volunteers. There were over 1,000 events for local people, with 85 per centof households engaged and more than 500,000 additional visits to culture. £4.1m was spent in the borough across 10 large-scale events alone. Waltham Forest Council formed more than 800 partnerships through the programme. The Council had an 80 per centsatisfaction rate with 78 per centresidents stating they were proud to live in Waltham Forest.
Regular learning sessions are taking place between Waltham Forest and Brent to share best practice, supported by my Culture team. A full evaluation of the programme will be published in Spring 2020, at a conference, where Waltham Forest will share learning with Brent and all other boroughs.

Arrested whilst released under investigation

Unmesh Desai: How many people have the Met arrested for a separate offence following being released under investigation between 3rd April 2017 to 30th November 2019?

The Mayor: The MPS do not hold this data.

Shared Endeavour Fund

Andrew Boff: What is the Shared Endeavour Fund, its terms of reference, and how much will it cost?

The Mayor: After the delivery of the most comprehensive city-wide engagement and review exercise in this policy area ever, I published the final report from my CVE Programme in June 2019. This report, “A Shared Endeavour” set out recommendations for renewed and improved countering extremism delivery in London.
One of the key findings of this report is that communities and civil society groups are well placed and moreover willing to counter extremism and encourage others to stand up to hate and intolerance but that this activity is being held back due to a lack of support, information and resources.
In light of this report, I invested £1 million to deliver a new London CVE Programme which would include a grants fund for civil society groups. The Shared Endeavour fund was launched in January 2020 and is currently inviting applications until March 22nd 2020. Successful groups will begin work in June 2020.
Civil society groups can bid for grants up to £50,000 for projects which satisfy one or more of the following outcomes.
I have invested £400,000 into this fund and was delighted that Google.org have recognised the importance of this work and supported us through matched funding of my investment creating a civil society grant pot totalling £800,000. I am also pleased to state that the world leading think and do tank, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) have joined us as a delivery partner bringing a wealth of insight and experience.
Groundwork London are the commissioned provider for the management and administration of the Shared Endeavour Fund and were awarded a contract of £72,500 to provide this service.
You can find out more information about the fund (including the prospectus) at: https://www.groundwork.org.uk/london-grants/shared-endeavour-fund/.

London Power and Fuel Poverty (1)

Leonie Cooper: How many households have signed up to London Power since its launch in January 2020?

The Mayor: We plan to publish customer numbers quarterly, to balance protecting the commercial position of London Power against our desire to be as transparent as possible. The first full quarter’s data will be published following the end of Quarter 12020/21 in July 2020.

London and Partners Brexit Resource

Tony Devenish: How are you using London and Partners to promote positivity around Brexit and the benefits it will bring?

The Mayor: The uncertainty created for businesses and investors by Brexit has meant that the GLA and London and Partners have had to work even harder to ensure London is and will remain the business capital of Europe.
I have given extra funding to London & Partners (L&P) to allow them to significantly increase their presence in key markets, putting teams in Paris, Berlin, Bangalore, Shenzhen, Toronto and Chicago for the first time.
L&P engage regularly through international media to promote London. During the period immediately prior to and following the UK’s EU exit date they hosted audience-specific information on their web pages directing businesses, tourists and students to high quality advice.
They also shared Brexit preparedness content with around 30,000 business and tourism contacts and operated a help desk for 7 days around the Brexit date to offer advice and guidance.

OPDC

Tony Devenish: In view of your recent decision not to proceed with residential development in Old Oak North, including the Cargiant site, and therefore not to accept the £250m funding from the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund, how many homes do you now expect to deliver in the OPDC area per year over the next ten years?

The Mayor: The Intend to Publish version of the London Plan sets OPDC a target to deliver 13,670 homes over the next ten years – an average of 1,367 homes per year.
The Government requires local planning authorities to publish a five-year housing land supply, showing how homes targets will be met in the short term. OPDC’s most recent five-year housing supply, published in February 2020, shows that OPDC envisages 6,938 homes to be completed over the next five years, or an average of 1,388 homes per year.
OPDC has announced a new approach, which will bring forward and unlock a range of early sites – in both public and private ownership - where substantial numbers of new homes and jobs can be developed quickly. This will be done alongside a focus on the large public sector land holdings that are close to the existing Willesden Junction station and the proposed new HS2 interchange hub, which together offer major opportunities for strategic scaled growth and regeneration
OPDC will be making modifications to its Local Plan to support the delivery of this new approach and show how it can continue to meet its ten-year London Plan homes target.

London Power

Tony Arbour: Can the Mayor confirm that all Octopus advertising in the capital will be under the London Power brand?

The Mayor: The Mayor has founded London Power to ensure all Londoners have access to energy that is always fair, always affordable, always green with excellent customer service. Octopus are contracted to work with the GLA on the London Power brand. However, Octopus are free to advertise under their own brand for their own products. All advertising for London Power however will be done under the London Power brand.

Recycling

Tony Arbour: Please could you confirm whether every borough is providing a kerbside weekly food waste collection service?

The Mayor: Nine boroughs do not currently offer separate food waste collections to households. These boroughs are Barking and Dagenham, Barnet1, Hammersmith and Fulham, Havering, Kensington and Chelsea2, Newham, Redbridge, Wandsworth and Westminster3.
Of th 24 boroughs offering kerbside food waste collections, 18 provide a separate collection and six provide mixed organic collections (food and garden waste).
Proposal 7.2.1.a in my London Environment Strategy (LES) requires all London boroughs to collect as a minimum the six dry main commonly recycled materials (glass, tins/cans, paper, card, mixed plastics and plastic bottles) from every property, and to collect food waste separately from properties with a kerbside collection.
Proposal 7.2.1.b in my LES requires all London boroughs to produce Reduction and Recycling Plans (RRPs) by 2020.Where boroughs are not meeting my minimum service level my officers have worked with them to ensure their RRPs and contract procurement documents have a commitment and clear road map set out in their RRPs for how and when they will do so. I have received draft RRPs from all boroughs and expect to approve all these in the coming weeks.
See also my response to Mayor's Question 2020/0416.
1Barnet have suspended their food waste collections subject to a service review.
2Kensington and Chelsea currently provides a food waste collection service to approximately 4,000 properties.
3Westminster currently collects separate food waste in a pilot from residents in kerbside properties, mansion blocks and estates. The borough offers separate food waste collections to its commercial waste customers.

London Power

Tony Arbour: How many Londoners have expressed interest in having London Power as their energy supply company?

The Mayor: Londoners are now able to switch to London Power at mylondonpower.com; they do not need to register before switching so we do not hold data on how many have expressed interest. We plan to publish customer numbers quarterly, to balance protecting the commercial position of London Power against our desire to be as transparent as possible. The first full quarter’s data will be published following the end of Quarter 1 2020/21 in July 2020.

Climate Emergency Citizens’ Assembly

Caroline Pidgeon: You have made clear that there is no provision for you to hold a citizens’ assembly on the climate emergency from the £350,000 climate initiative funding. Considering the powers you have in this area will you not consider holding one? And if not, what monitoring will you be doing of any of the national citizens’ assemblies that take place in London?

The Mayor: I have been clear that tackling the climate emergency in London and ensuring a just transition will require solutions from all Londoners, and it is important that they are given opportunity to be involved. However, given the limited powers I have to implement the full range of climate action needed in London, it is more appropriate for any citizens’ assembly to be held at national level and for the government to be held to account to deliver on its outcomes and to hear the concerns of citizens in London and nationally.
I will continue to lobby for increased resources and powers to enable London to accelerate action, responding to the clear call from Londoners for action on the climate emergency. I am committed to engaging Londoners in other strategic ways on climate change action, including through consultation on key polices and through delivery of my climate change programmes.
My officers will be monitoring developments in the national citizens’ assemblies that are relevant for London and I have urged organisers to ensure the specific challenges and opportunities of climate action in cities are discussed.

London Night Time Commission actions

Caroline Russell: A letter sent on 21 January 2020 to Assembly Member Cooper from your Deputy Mayor for Business stated: “the Mayor’s response to the recommendations of the London Night Time Commission commits to actions to improve the working conditions of those working at night. For example, the Night Czar is working with Night Time Borough Champions Network to champion holistic night-time strategies and guidance that consider the needs of those working between 6 pm to 6 am.” Could you provide the guidance documents and strategies these champions and networks are producing?

The Mayor: Policy HC6 of the draft new London Plan requires boroughs to develop a vision for their local area at night, supporting good growth and diversification for the night time. This builds on my Vision for London to be a world leading 24-Hour city.
To support boroughs, the Night Czar chairs the Night Time Borough Champions Network. The Network meets quarterly to share best practice and help boroughs to develop local plans for night time activity and is made up of councillors and officers from every London borough. The Network discusses issues which affect those working at night, such as transport, safety and access to the high street. In 2019, the first boroughs published their visions. Croydon produced an ‘Evening and Night Time Economy Strategy’, and Lewisham published ‘Evening and Night-Time Offer: A Vision for Lewisham’. These are publicly available on the councils’ websites and linked below.
The GLA is developing new guidance to assist boroughs in creating their night time visions which will be launched in summer 2020.
Croydon’s Evening and Night Time action plan
https://www.croydon.gov.uk/business/evening-and-night-time-action-plan
Evening and Night time Offer - a vision for Lewisham
http://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?AIId=22948

Bus Safety Programme

Caroline Russell: I note the update on the Bus Safety Programme reported to the 12 February 2020 Safety, Sustainability and Human Resources Panel of Transport for London (TfL). In this report it is stated that TfL has: “identified priority actions to better manage bus driver fatigue risk.” Can you explain what these priority actions are?

The Mayor: Please see my answer to Mayor's Question 2020/0358.

Former Trident officer allocation

Unmesh Desai: Please provide a breakdown of how many former Trident unit officers were allocated to the new specialist crime hubs in: Barking, Hendon, Lewisham, Putney.

The Mayor: 380 officers originally with the former Trident Command were transferred into Specialist Crime (SC).
12 of these were moved to Central SC Vulnerability to provide a more holistic approach to community safeguarding and partnership work. The remaining 368 officers are spread across the 4 geographical specialist crime hubs.

Tower Bridge Flooding

Keith Prince: The flooding on the road north to Tower Bridge has returned, please can you increase the frequency of the number of times a year that the drains are deblocked or look at a permanent barrier that does not cause this?

The Mayor: As noted in my previous questions Mayor's Question 2018/3439 and 2019/14339, the permanent barriers were installed by the Metropolitan Police (MPS) following the London Bridge terrorist attacks. A number of these barriers unfortunately block the gullies which causes the flooding.
Last year we increased the cleaning from once to twice a year. To fully clear the gullies the barriers are required to be removed. In addition, further additional cleaning will not be able to fully protect the bridge from flooding, as evidenced in the recent adverse weather.

Transport for London Consulting

Navin Shah: Following MQ 2019/3933 can you provide costs and revenue figures for TfL Consulting? Please break down by financial year from 2016/17 onwards. Please provide actual figures for 2016/17 to 2018/19 and estimated figures for 2019/20 and the subsequent business plan years.

The Mayor: Transport for London’s (TfL) Consulting function began in 2018/19. As stated in TfL’s 2019/20 Budget, TfL Consulting made a loss of £550,000in 2018/19 when a core team was constituted, and market testing was undertaken to create a potential pipeline of opportunities. TfL has since built a team to reflect the demand from the market and is developing long term partnerships with city authorities and potential partners. Once the trading accounts for the year 2019/20 are completed, recent costs and revenue figures can be provided.
Subject to market conditions, TfL intends to build revenues of £45 million by the end of the five-year Business Plan period, delivering a profitable and sustainable long-term income stream.

Tasers

Keith Prince: Why don’t neighbourhood police officers get tasers?

The Mayor: The deployment of taser armed officers is an operational decision for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).
Officers trained to carry and use taser are deployed where and when the MPS believes they are needed most. Whilst they are not a solution to all problems, tasers are an important tactical option for officers facing violent situations.

Redbridge Roundabout

Keith Prince: Can the Mayor tell us what he has done to resolve the issues around traffic flows and Key Success Indicators at Redbridge Roundabout?

The Mayor: The complex Redbridge Roundabout, where the A406 meets the A12, is being monitored by Transport for London following completion of works in September 2019 to improve road safety and reduce congestion. These changes included adjustments to the traffic signal timings, clearer lane markings, and carriageway resurfacing. Collision data will be used to assess whether the scheme has been effective.

Go Look See (2)

Keith Prince: How many "Go Look See” Investigation Reports were prepared in—respectively—calendar years 2018 and 2019? Please provide me with copies of each of these reports.

The Mayor: Following the introduction of the Go Look See process in October 2018, Transport for London (TfL) undertook three Go, Look, See visits that year.
In 2019, TfL carried out a further 61 visits to the locations of fatal collisions.
It is important to note that the purpose of the Go, Look, See process is not to investigate or establish the root cause of the incident (as these will be explored through the parallel processes led by the Police and as part of Coroner’s inquests where they are undertaken), but to identify opportunities to prevent the reoccurrence of such collisions.
TfL officers would be happy to brief you in person and provide you with copies of these Go, Look, See reports directly.

Dial-a-Ride

Navin Shah: A stakeholder group in my constituency alleges that Dial-a-Ride is discriminating against people living with dementia by imposing a blanket requirement for people with a dementia diagnosis to provide a statement from a medical expert in order to use the service without an essential escort. Can I please ask you to justify TfL’s policy in this respect and help me to organise a meeting between TfL and stakeholder groups to discuss their concerns plus assist with any related casework?

The Mayor: Dial-a-Ride does require some customers with a medical condition, such as dementia, to travel with an essential escort. This is an important safeguard, not just for the individual but for other passengers on board the vehicle as well as the driver.
Transport for London (TfL) decided to review their policy in light of learnings from previous incidents and a desire to minimise risks such as a customer leaving the bus, becoming lost, removing their seatbelt, standing up while the vehicle is moving, becoming aggressive or refusing to leave the vehicle.
TfL sought the guidance of Alzheimer’s Society to help craft the policy. This allows customers with dementia to travel unaccompanied as long as they have the support of their medical professional, who can confirm that there are no health and safety risks, and can specify a date for review of the exemption based on their diagnosis. A number of customers with dementia utilise this process.
In addition, Dial-a-Ride drivers and other staff undertake Dementia Friends training accredited by Alzheimer’s Society. I believe TfL has created a suitable balance between passenger and driver safety, and its wish to allow customers with dementia to travel independently for as long as they are able.
Interested stakeholders can find out more if they email [emailprotected]. I have asked officers at TfL to contact you directly to set up a meeting to discuss this.

Specialist crime hubs and Basic Command Units</strong> (<strong>BCUs

Unmesh Desai: Please advise on whether the new specialist crime hubs are designed to work with specific BCU’s? If so, which specialist crime hubs are to work with which BCU’s?

The Mayor: The four geographical specialist crime hubs containing both reactive & proactive units are aligned to 3 BCUs each in order to improve BCU/Specialist Crime cooperation and partnership working.
Specialist Crime South
Specialist Crime North

Warmer Homes programme budget

Caroline Russell: The Warmer Homes programme budget for 2020-21 has been allocated £2.375 million, falling to £2.0 million in 2021-22. Why have you reduced this budget when at least 146,000 homes in London are cold, damp and mouldy?

The Mayor: The confirmed Warmer Homes programme budget for each of the two years is £2.375 million. The budget in 2021-22 has not reduced.

London Power (2)

Andrew Boff: Will you please supply a copy of the contract with Octopus Energy for providing London Power?

The Mayor: A copy of the contract between Octopus Energy and London Power Co. Limited is published (redacted) on the contracts finder website at:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/f5c705da-3924-4f3d-9bdf-fc845a8317c3

Mayoral Decision Publication Date Transparency

Caroline Pidgeon: Following your commitment to transparency, will you ensure that when Mayoral Decisions are published they are not simply back dated to the date that the decision was made, but that the date of publication is also made clear?

The Mayor: I am happy to explore this for future decisions. Officers are in the process of commissioning work to update the architecture of the ‘Decisions’ part of the website, and this is being added to the list of desired requirements.
In line with statutory requirements, a list of Mayoral Decisions is published alongside the monthly Mayor’s report to the Assembly. This ‘Decisions list’ is ordered around publication dates.

Extra places for incident command training (4)

Andrew Dismore: What courses will be deferred as a result of LFB buying more places for incident command training?

The Mayor: Please see the table below:
Code
Title
Delegate
Numbers
CERTFS
Youth Engagement - Certificate in Food Safety
10
DGTSAC
Safeguarding Area Community Staff
36
FI1701
Healthcare Firecode Guidance
12
FSFCMT
Conflict Awareness
11
HSSLFT
Health and Safety for Life Trainers
8
ITSCSU
Scientific Support Unit IT Module
8
ITSPIN
Share Point – Introductory level
12
INTRAA
Youth Engagement - Assessor
2
INTRDB
Youth Engagement – Managing Difficult Behaviour
60
INTRVA
Youth Engagement – Verification Training
80
PRFWAR
Fire Warden Training
24
DGLEAD
Supervisory Management - Foundational Leadership
72
DGSUMP
Supervisory Management - Managing Performance
72
DGSUMT
Supervisory Management - Managing Teams
72
DGSUMO
Supervisory Management - Management and the Organisation
60
DGSUMY
Supervisory Management - Managing Yourself
60
DGSUIM
Supervisory Management - Corporate Information Systems
48
DGSPPR
Speaking and Presenting with Impact
108
INPDCO
Chairing and Participating in Meetings
12
INPLTH
Middle Managers - Press Liaison Theory
12
INPDPL
Middle Managers - Press Liaison Practical
12
DGEMPL
Middle Managers - Emergency Planning
48
ITEXL1
Excel - Introductory
8
ITEXL2
Excel - Intermediate Level
16
ITEXL3
Excel - Advanced Level
8
ITWDL2
Word - Intermediate Level
8
ITWDL3
Word - Advanced Level
8
INWSRW
Writing Skills - Report Writing
60
INWSEL
Writing Skills - Emails, Letters, Short Reports
24
INWMIN
Writing Skills - Effective Minute Taking
24
HMEPO1
Hazardous Material and Environment Protection
4

London Datastore Open Data Institute Report (1)

Leonie Cooper: How will the recommendations made in the Open Data Institute report on the London Datastore ensure that Londoners can continue to benefit from the opportunities and learnings which can arise from big data?

The Mayor: I want us to do more to utilise data to meet the needs of our citizens.If we are to use data to help solve the biggest problems our city faces it is crucial that we take a more collaborative approach.
The Open Data Institute provided practical recommendations for improvements to the London Datastore, including to help better data sharing and more collaborative approaches to tackling London’s biggest challenges. We will be making some technical improvements to the platform to ensure it can act as a central registry of London’s data, as well as providing guidance and leadership at a city-wide level to better meet the needs of users looking to work collaboratively on data projects.

Everyday crime

Tony Devenish: Why are the public so weary that the Police don't address everyday crime after you have been Mayor for nearly 4 years?

The Mayor: Tackling violent crime is my number one priority and the Met have my full support in focussing their resources on this issue. While Ministers have finally begun to reverse cuts to the police, Government funding for the Met still does not cover the number of police officers lost since 2010. As Mayor I am doing all I can to increase officer numbers through the mechanisms I have, but I too am weary that a decade of Government cuts to police and local services have stretched our police to breaking point.

Intelligent Speed Adaptation (8)

Caroline Russell: In your answer to my question 2020/0058, you said that Transport for London (TfL) is reviewing the potential for inclusion of Intelligent Speed Adaption (ISA) in its own commercial vehicle fleet, and in its procurement specification for new vehicles. When will TfL conclude this review?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) is currently reviewing the different Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) systems available on the market in order to determine which might offer the best value as a retrofit solution for its commercial fleet. This review should be completed by May 2020. TfL is also looking at whether new vehicles it procures can include safety technologies such as ISA. This piece of work is ongoing and the requirements will evolve as new vehicles come to the market.

Silvertown Tunnel

Len Duvall: If you were minded to cease with developing the Silvertown Tunnel, what compensation would need to be paid to contractors associated with the construction of the tunnel, and what would the cost of that be?

The Mayor: In line with standard commercial practice, the Silvertown Tunnel project agreement provides for compensation of costs incurred and loss of expected profits less payments received. As this is a Design, Build, Finance and Maintain (DBFM) agreement, there would be costs associated with cancellation of the loans put in place by the winning consortium to finance the construction, in line with normal practice for DBFM agreements.
No specific value can be placed on the compensation payable as it would depend on parameters such as the timing of the cancellation and magnitude of the claim (consisting of items such as finance fees, mobilisation, design, overheads, loss of profit and interest rate swaps).
If I were to cancel the contract, not only would the significant transport, environmental and economic benefits of the project not be realised, the compensation payable would have to be found from other project budgets, further impacting Londoners.

Climate emergency collaboration

Leonie Cooper: What collaboration is underway with London Councils and the 26 London local authorities who have signed Climate Emergency declarations?

The Mayor: I am holding a Climate Emergency workshop jointly with London Councils for the boroughs in February focused on tools and best practice to support climate emergency actions. My officials also held a workshop for boroughs on the new London Plan climate change policies in January.
In addition, so far, I have provided £32 million of funding to boroughs across initiatives; from carbon reduction in buildings, air quality and low carbon energy supply to waste & circular economy and green infrastructure.
As well as funding, my officers are working with London Councils as they develop their own programme to ensure support is aligned.
I’m also monitoring progress with carbon offset funds collected through the planning system. Good progress has been made in setting up funds, but borough must now ensure these funds are used.
But tackling the climate emergency is not an easy task, while battling with a legacy of austerity and weak national regulations. And so, alongside the boroughs, we will continue to call for the funding and powers we need from government.

London Living Wage

Caroline Pidgeon: Further to data provided in response to Question 2019/4021 please provide the most recent data for both the total number and proportion of jobs in Greater London paying less than the London Living Wage.

The Mayor: In 2019 the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings reported that 839,000 or 19.8 per cent of employee jobs pay below the London Living Wage.
The Mayor urges businesses to voluntarily sign up to paying the London Living Wage. It is the right thing to do to ensure that hardworking Londoners are rewarded with fair pay. It can also make business sense as London Living Wage employers can see improvements in productivity, staff morale and retention as a result of employees feeling valued.
Please see the attachedtable which sets out the number and proportion of employee jobs paid held by those working in London aged 18 or over that are paid below the London Living Wage between 2005 and 2019 using the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
Year
Number of employee jobs below the London Living Wage
Percentage of employee jobs below the London Living Wage
2019
839000
19.8
2018
871000
20.5
2017
814000
19.4
2016
802000
19.5
2015
798000
20.0
2014
755000
19.1
2013
669000
17.4
2012
611000
16.7
2011
542000
14.8
2010
471000
13.0
2009
454000
12.8
2008
469000
12.8
2007
446000
12.7
2006
406000
12.0
2005
446000
13.3
Please note that these estimates cover only employee jobs i.e. self-employed jobs are not covered.
The estimates are produced using the methodology recommended for living wage estimates, as explained here:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/methodologies/calculatingtheproportionofemployeejobsunderthelivingwageamethodologyarticle

Nursery air pollution filters

Leonie Cooper: How much has air pollution fallen by for the classrooms benefitting from air pollution filters in London?

The Mayor: Last year I extended my hugely successful school air quality audit programme to 20 nurseries. As part of the nursery audits, different air pollution filtration devices were installed at six of the nurseries. The trials are now complete, and the full results will be published later this month.
The main finding from the study is that filtration devices can be effective in some situations, with some devices proving more effective than others. Given there are many commercially available filtration systems delivering varying levels of pollution reduction, the report highlights the need for further work in this area. Whilst filtration systems may play a part in reducing exposure at some highly polluted locations, it is clear we will still see the greatest health benefit from policies that tackle pollution at the source.

TfL radio and poster advertising

Caroline Pidgeon: For each month since May 2016, please provide a breakdown of the money TfL has spent across its whole business on (a) radio advertising (b) poster advertising and (c) cinema advertising.

The Mayor: Transport for London’s (TfL’s) expenditure for radio, posters and cinema ranged from £4m - £4.5m during 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/2019. In 2019/20 TfL has so far spent £2m and expect this figure to remain lower than previous years because it is spending less in these channels, investing instead in newspaper partnerships and video on demand.
Figures for each month since May 2016 on radio, posters and cinema media is provided in the attached table.

South Wimbledon tube noise

Leonie Cooper: Local residents continue to suffer from tube noise and vibration, while travelling south from South Wimbledon to Morden is still a painful experience for travellers. Can you update me on when an effective and permanent solution to these problems will be implemented?

The Mayor: I continue to stress to Transport for London (TfL) the importance of minimising noise levels, and I know TfL is working hard to achieve this.
TfL has carried out a number of track works to address residential noise complaints around South Wimbledon, including rail replacement works in August 2019, which were successful in lowering noise levels.
This was followed by rail grinding, which reduced rail roughness, in this area in October 2019. Since then TfL has not received any further noise complaints from passengers.
Later this month TfL will carry out further rail grinding and will then take noise measurements, both in-carriage and at local properties, to assess the impact of this latest work.

EU funding for GLA environment programmes

Leonie Cooper: With our departure from the EU, EU funding for GLA environmental initiatives will cease. Please state which programmes will be affected, how much has been received to date and whether the Government has agreed to fill the gap, given the additional money they have assured us will be available after our departure?

The Mayor: The Withdrawal Agreement signed by the UK and EU confirmed that EU-funded programmes in the UK will continue until their closure in 2023-4; and Government will continue to seek re-imbursement from the EU in respect of these programmes. Four GLA environmental initiatives – Retrofit Accelerator – Homes, Retrofit Accelerator – Workplaces, Decentralised Energy Enabling Project, and Better Futures - are currently funded through the London European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programme, managed by the GLA’s European Programmes Management Unit; as is the Mayor of London’s Energy Efficiency Fund. The £400million London ERDF programme is now nearly entirely committed to projects. The Government has yet to provide any further detail concerning the ‘UK Shared Prosperity Fund’ intended to replace EU-funded programmes.

Air pollution in Putney

Leonie Cooper: Constituents are concerned that with the closure of Hammersmith Bridge that air pollution has worsened in the Putney part of my constituency. Can you confirm whether this is the case and what extra monitoring has been installed to ensure we receive early notification of any problems?

The Mayor: Data analysis from air quality monitoring stations in the Putney area has shown nothing beyond normal variations following the closure of Hammersmith Bridge. Transport for London (TfL) will continue to review this data. TfL will also liaise with London Borough of Wandsworth to determine whether they hold additional data that may be useful as part of this ongoing assessment.

Calculation on Bus Driver “Rest Time”

Keith Prince: Mr Mayor, in your answer to Mayoral Question 2019/6054 you referred to the "rest time" bus drivers enjoy while on two or three days of consecutive 12-hour shifts. Do you include as "rest time" the time bus drivers may not be driving, but do not have access to proper rest facilities in a depot, and may have to be "walking up and down the high street" as described by Union Representative John Murphy on the Union’s Twitter Feed on 10 January https://twitter.com/unitetheunion/status/1214138791826341890?s=21

The Mayor: Longer times on duty have greater rest time factored in to ensure driving durations are well within the legal limits. Most rest locations include places where a driver can take a break indoors, although surrounding areas can vary. Transport for London (TfL) is aware of a small number of locations where facilities for drivers to take breaks are not suitable. Its officers are discussing these with the bus operators.
Last year, TfL toughened wording in tenders to reinforce the need for bus drivers to have suitable facilities in which to take breaks.

Go Look See (4)

Keith Prince: What sort of training have the executives who carry out “Go Look See” Bus Crash Investigation had? Please provide all documentation (emails, meeting minutes, decision memorandums, handwritten notes) associated with this training.

The Mayor: Relevant teams from Transport for London (TfL) and the London boroughs are invited to attend the Go, Look, See site visits. These officers will have specific training in their respective fields, such as road safety audit (RSA), traffic or signal engineering.

Delays in the Publication of the Loughbrough Study on Bus Driver Fatigue

Keith Prince: Mr Mayor, now that it is clear that Unite the Union does not, in fact agree that TfL is doing enough on bus driver fatigue, based on their decision this week to ballot their members over strike action, would you agree that delaying the release of the Loughborough report for 3 months while negotiating with them - as described in your answer to Mayoral Question 2019/17463 - was a mistake?

The Mayor: In my answer to Mayor's Question 2019/17463, I expressed satisfaction that this substantial and world-leading piece work had been published on time. Sharing the contents of a draft report to ensure that it reflects, as much as possible, the concerns of stakeholders is an integral part of the drafting process. The fact that all parties were not in full agreement over the extent of the recommended actions does not in any way devalue the research.
The research conducted by Loughborough University on bus driver fatigue management research has provided a robust starting point for the London bus industry. Transport for London (TfL) anticipates that the fatigue risk management systems adopted from this summer onwards will evolve as operators and TfL learn more about the nature of the challenges bus drivers face and how to best address them.

Go Look See (5)

Keith Prince: Who receives copies of TfL’s “Go Look See” Bus Crash Investigation Reports?

The Mayor: Relevant teams from Transport for London and the London boroughs are invited to attend the Go, Look, See site visits. These officers and other colleagues with responsibility for delivery of the actions identified will receive a copy of the report which records observations and suggested actions made at the visit.

Partners for better work

Onkar Sahota: What discussions have your teams running the Good Work Standard and Healthy Workplace Award had with a) the Director for Labour Market Enforcement and b) London boroughs, in order to increase the reach and effectiveness of the schemes?

The Mayor: My team met with the former Director for Labour Market Enforcement, Sir David Metcalf, to discuss Minimum Wage enforcement in London in 2018.
Both my Good Work Standard and the London Healthy Workplace Award rely on close working with London boroughs. This happens at a strategic level where I regularly call on boroughs to champion the good work agenda and at an operational level where council officers are working with their local businesses to offer guidance and support the best employment practices. I am pleased that x London Boroughs have themselves achieved Good Work Standard Accreditation, and call on all others to do so.

Healthy work at night

Onkar Sahota: What are you doing to expand the reach of the Good Work Standard and Healthy Workplace Award into the night-time economy?

The Mayor: My Good Work Standard and London Healthy Workplace Award are helping employers to provide healthy workplaces. They are calling for employers to ensure night workers have the same support and welfare services as daytime workers.
I have written to hundreds of employers, many of whom employ workers between 6pm and 6am, which is the definition of night-time work recommended by the London Night-Time Commission. This includes large employers such as London Fire Brigade, Metropolitan Police Service, Transport for London, London City Airport and seven London boroughs who are accredited Good Work Standard employers.
I encourage all employers to take a look at these schemes. City Hall teams are on hand to offer support as are the community of employers who champion good and healthy work. Through the London Healthy Workplace Award, my team are actively working to target sectors that can exacerbate poor health and wellbeing in the workforce such as those with low pay or night-time workers.

Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) (2)

Caroline Russell: Thank you for your response to my question 2020/0052. You have stated you will publish a London Solar Map. When will you do this?

The Mayor: The London Solar Opportunity Map will be published in summer 2020.

Pimlico Tube Noise (1)

Tony Devenish: When will Delkor resilient track fasteners be fitted to the Southbound track of the Victoria Line between Victoria and Pimlico, an area which was classified as a priority by the Deputy Mayor in September 2019?

The Mayor: I continue to stress to Transport for London (TfL) the importance of minimising noise levels and I know TfL is working hard to achieve this.
TfL is continuing to investigate the feasibility of the use of the Delkor track fastening product and its suitability for this location. TfL will provide your office with an update on this work by spring 2020.

Rucksacks on the Tube

Tony Devenish: What is TfL doing to reduce the instances of Tube users failing to remove their rucksacks on the London Underground and would you undertake a publicity campaign to drive home this message?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) is committed to tackling anti-social behaviours on the network and ensuring a pleasant experience for customers, including asking customers to remove their rucksacks.
TfL’s ‘TravelKind’ campaign, which launched in 2017, is focused on encouraging considerate travel etiquette and includes this message: ‘Please take off your backpack to make room for others’.TfL encouragecustomers whilst they are travelling to remove rucksacks, through running the message on posters in stations and on platform announcements. The campaign is currently live throughout the year on London Underground and TfL Rail and it will also run on London Overground and DLR from April 2020.

Schools for Success

Jennette Arnold: Will you produce an updated version of the ‘Schools for Success: What helped them to succeed?’ report, originally published in October 2018?

The Mayor: Schools for Success recognises about 100 schools each year that do well with their lowest prior attaining students, so that their knowledge and experience can be shared with other schools. The October 2018 report, undertaken by UCL Institute of Education (IOE), sought to identify and understand specific strategies and approaches adopted by the 2017/18 Schools for Success cohort and related these to what’s known about raising the achievement of low prior attaining students from the wider research base. This evidence collected in the first year of the programme is still relevant to schools today.
Further good practice is shared across all London schools through the online profiles of the Schools for Success; this includes the 2017/18 cohort and also those schools recognised in 2018 and 2019. We will continue to publish school profiles each year, so building a valuable evidence base. Schools also share learning by hosting visits from other schools and participating in termly events, most recently presenting at the LondonEd research conference for London schools. We do not intend to produce a second version of the report at this point.

London Pensions

Tony Devenish: What are you doing to help London Local Authorities struggling with a record £18bn pensions black hole?

The Mayor: So far as I cantell, the £18bn figure is based on the standard ‘IAS19’ valuation of pensions liabilities, used in Boroughs’ final accounts as at 31March2019. This method discounts future expected pensions payments by rates associated with corporate bonds. The number is just a snapshot estimate and is extremely sensitive to interest rates, which are at historic lows; there are no issues with any London local government pension fund’s ability to pay pensions as they fall due. Most London funds have expected (and realised) investment returns far in excess of IAS19 assumptions, due to being able to take a very long-term investment approach, and their formal triennial valuations show a better picture.
Nevertheless, my officers work extensively with individual boroughs, the London Pensions Fund Authority, the Local Pensions Partnership and the London CIV to collaborate on investment matters in order to improve outcomes (financial, social and environmental) and generate economies of scale. As an example, I am investigating how my Land Fund can collaborate with the LPFA and London CIV’s London Fund.

Trees for London

David Kurten: How is the pledge you made in September 2015 to plant two million trees during your first term, if you became London’s Mayor, coming along?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/24/sadiq-khan-labour-candidate-london-mayor-interview

The Mayor: In my manifesto, I committed to delivering a major tree-planting programme, and that is exactly what I have done.
By the end of my Mayoral term, I will have directly funded the planting of over 280,000 trees, over 100,000 more than the previous Mayor planted over the course of two terms.

Nitrogen dioxide (2)

David Kurten: You stated in the recent Peoples’ Question Time in Wood Green that it would take 193 years for NO2levels to fall below the legal limit without intervention. What is the source reference for this claim?

The Mayor: During the People’s Question Time in Haringey I mentioned that, without my interventions to cut pollution, it would take 193 years to achieve the European Limit value (40 μg m−3 annual mean) in London. However, with the action I am taking to clean up London’s air we are predicted to be compliant by 2025.
This figure is based on research published in 2019 by Kings College London. The paper is titled “A tale of two cities: is air pollution improving in Paris and London?” and written by A.Font et al. It is available here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749118321687?via%3Dihub

Nitrogen dioxide (1)

David Kurten: You have stated that three-monthly average NO2levels in central London fell from 89 microgramsper cubic metrein 2019 Q1 to 57 micrograms per cubic metrein 2019 Q3.
What were the three-monthly average NO2levels in 2018 Q1, 2018 Q2, 2018 Q3, 2018 Q4, 2019 Q2, 2019 Q4, and where can the full set of comparable data be publicly viewed?
(Q1 = Jan - Mar,Q2 = Apr - Jun, Q3 = Jul - Sep, Q4 = Oct - Dec)

The Mayor: The three-monthly average nitrogen dioxide levels for monitoring sites across London from Q1 2017 to Q3 2019 are published in the “Central London ULEZ - Six Month Report”. The data can be found in Table 1, p 13: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/ulez_six_month_evaluation_report_final_oct.pdf
The data shows that since the announcement of the T-charge in February 2017 there has been a 32ugm3 reduction in NO2 at roadside sites in the central zone, representing a 36 per cent reduction. In the same period there have been 42,200 less older, more polluting, non-compliant vehicles detected in the zone on an average day.

Pimlico Tube Noise (3)

Tony Devenish: Until a long-term solution to the noise problem has been found and implemented, would TfL agree to regrinding the Southbound track between Victoria and Pimlico every three months?

The Mayor: Further rail grinding in the Pimlico area of the Victoria line is scheduled for spring 2020. Transport for London (TfL) is aware of the concerns residents have in this area. TfL will continue to take regular noise measurements throughout 2020 to determine how often rail grinding should be carried out for maximum effect and within the constraints of TfL’s network-wide rail grinding programme.
If noise levels are shown to have risen significantly, TfL will evaluate its programme of rail grinding work and consider whether rail grinding in this area can be brought forward.

Pimlico Tube Noise (2)

Tony Devenish: When is the next regrinding scheduled for the Southbound track of the Victoria Line between Victoria and Brixton?

The Mayor: Rail grinding is due to take place on the southbound Victoria line track, between Victoria and Brixton, in spring 2020.
I have asked that Transport for London officers contact your office once dates for this work have been confirmed.

Cultural Impact Awards

Susan Hall: Please can you list all winners of the Cultural Impact Award? Please breakdown the cost, what it funded and from which budget the funds came from.

The Mayor: Cultural Impact Awards are given to boroughs for exemplary individual projects highlighted in their London Borough of Culture bids. In round one of London Borough of Culture the following awards were made:
For round 2, three boroughs will receive up to £200,000 each.
These projects were funded from the GLA’s Culture and Creative Industries budget.

Tram safety

Navin Shah: Following the Croydon tram crash in 2016, the Light Rail Safety Standards Board, a UK wide regulatory body, was established in order to set new guidance and safety regulation specific to the tram industry. What steps will the Mayor take to ensure that TFL and any London tram operations play an integral role in the development of such guidance?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2020/0321.

Sustainable Travel, Active, Responsible Safe (STARS) Programme

Navin Shah: How many schools are in London and how many are members of TfL's STARS (Sustainable Travel, Active, Responsible Safe) travel plan accreditation scheme?

The Mayor: The latest Edubase data shows that there are 3,284 schools in London.Of these schools 1,426 are actively engaged in the Transport for London (TfL) STARS program. This is based on data from the end of the academic year 2018/19.
STARS is TfL's accreditation scheme for London schools and nurseries. The program inspires young Londoners to travel to school sustainably, actively, responsibly and safely by championing walking, scooting and cycling.

London Overground audio advice

Joanne McCartney: Do all London Overground trains announce the side the doors are opening at the next stop? If not, can this please be considered, as such announcements greatly assist those who are visually impaired?

The Mayor: No, London Overground trains do not currently announce which side the doors are opening. I will ask Transport for London to look into the feasibility of making this change.

Future Homes Standard proposals

Leonie Cooper: What representations have been made to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government on their proposal, in the Future Homes Standard consultation, to remove the ability for local planning authorities to set out their own energy and carbon reduction targets?

The Mayor: I have written to Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to urge him not to restrict local authorities from setting higher standards than Building Regulations and I have asked for an urgent response. I also submitted a technical response to the consultation which my officers are discussing with MHCLG.
Every available measure to tackle the climate emergency must be used. It is not acceptable that London, and other local authorities are held back from setting more ambitious standards. London has been successfully delivering against a net zero carbon standard for new homes since 2016, and Government’s proposal effectively forces London to adopt a standard 25 per centlower than developers are already meeting in London.
Relaxing standards will not only slow our progress towards becoming a zero-carbon city, but it sends the wrong message to the industry about the Government’s approach to its own target. The policy is out of step with both the views of the public and many local authorities who support going further and faster on climate action.

Mass evacuation preparation (4)

Andrew Dismore: What percentage of control room operators have completed Fire Survival Guidance (FSG) refresher training?

The Mayor: All six watches in Control have received structured Fire Survival Guidance (FSG) refresher training provided by internal Control trainers throughout January 2020. This refresher training is predominantly based on current policy but also points to the changes coming as a result of a refresh of the FSG policy (PN 790). As of 19th February 2020, 61 per cent of all Control officers have received the training. Further sessions for those who have been absent through leave, sickness or operational commitments are scheduled throughout February and the beginning of March to ensure that all relevant staff have received the training.
In addition, there will be a new training programme rolled out to all relevant Control staff following publication of both the revised FSG policy and the High Rise policy (PN 633).

Carbon neutralising LFB

Andrew Dismore: What funding is in place and what programmes will it deliver by 2025 to deliver a 60% reduction on LFB’s 1990 carbon pollution levels?

The Mayor: Funding of £903,000capital and £391,000revenue has been requested for 2020/21 to deliver additional measures for the first year of a three-year action plan set out in London Fire Brigade’s carbon strategy. These measures include Photovoltaics, LED lighting, boiler replacements, a pilot of air source heat pumps, optimising heating controls, and a zero carbon fire station feasibility review. Other planned asset replacement and refurbishment works are also expected to contribute to the target.

Tackling fatigue faced by bus drivers

Caroline Pidgeon: Please set out the specific actions and the deadlines for implementation during 2020 that are being taken to reduce levels of fatigue faced by bus drivers.

The Mayor: I set out my plans to support the management of fatigue and understand its causes in my answer to Mayor's Question 2019/19621.
Robust fatigue risk management systems are required for any company to operate London buses under new contracts from this summer and will be supported by appropriate training for bus operator managers.
To encourage innovation and find effective interventions that can address fatigue further, Transport for London (TfL) is launching a £500,000 fund that operators can apply to from this spring and will be working with its operators to implement selected initiatives.
TfL, its contracted bus operators and the union, Unite, are already working together to foster better conditions for drivers such as launching the “Wellbeing Bus” in November last year. This is expected to visit every garage on the network to provide health assessments and guidance to staff on health and wellbeing, and fatigue management. The three parties have also been prioritising where toilets are most needed alongside routes.

Borough carbon offset survey

Leonie Cooper: When will the next annual survey of London borough carbon offsets be published?

The Mayor: The next carbon offset survey will be issued to boroughs in the new financial year. Once the results have been received and analysed a summary report will be produced which is expected to be published towards the end of the summer 2020.

District heating

Leonie Cooper: What work has been undertaken to promote district heating by the GLA in 2019 and so far in 2020?

The Mayor: My officers engage with a wide range of national, regional and local stakeholders on energy and climate issues to promote the role of heat networks.
As well as my Decentralised Energy Enabling Programme (DEEP) which actively works to support opportunities, policies in both the existing London Plan and in the draft New London Plan support prioritising connection to district heating and cooling networks (DHCN).
DEEP promotes district heating in its day to day work as well as at events and workshops. Last year this included presenting at the UK District Energy Association conference, co-hosting a workshop on the government’s Heat Network Investment Project and launching the new London Heat Map. Three workshops were also run with London stakeholders to develop ideas for what more I could do in future programmes to help accelerate the build out of district heating in London.
The London Plan’s energy policies promote district heating and my officers hold regular workshops and training sessions with borough officers to discuss the implementation of these policies, including the promotion of DHCNs. The latest workshop was held on 31st Jan 2020.

Select Committee inquiries on environment and energy

Leonie Cooper: What Select Committee inquiries on environment and energy were responded to by the GLA over 2019 and so far in 2020?

The Mayor: As requested please see below:
­­Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and the Environmental Audit Committee: Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill inquiry
Treasury Committee: Decarbonisation of the UK Economy and Green Finance inquiry

London Power (1)

Andrew Boff: What have been the costs in setting up London Power? Please list.

The Mayor: The GLA has committed £2.4 million to the setup of London Power. The breakdown of these costs can be found in MD2187, MD2319, MD2405 and MD2482 (this figure excludes the £906k loan approved in MD2482, which is for ongoing running costs rather than set-up).

Police officer numbers

Shaun Bailey: Please provide a month-by-month breakdown of police officer numbers entering each London borough (or Basic Command Unit if available) over the last 12 months.

The Mayor: The Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) publishes a dashboard that shows officer numbers over the rolling last two years.
Information is available by month and Basic Command Unit (BCU).
You can view the dashboard at:www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/mayors-office-policing-and-crime-mopac/data-and-statistics/policing/workforce-dashboard

Robbery 2

Susan Hall: For each of the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 please provide the number of pregnant women who have been victims of robbery?

The Mayor: The MPS do not hold this data.

Jacksons Lane Theatre, Highgate

Joanne McCartney: Jacksons Lane Theatre and Creative Space in Highgate offers a wide range of activities for children and young people across the borough of Haringey and beyond. How have you and how do you plan to support this organisation further?

The Mayor: Arts venues like Jacksons Lane are a vital part of London’s communities, nurturing creative talent and providing space for people to come together.
Founded by London Assembly Member Nicky Gavron 45 years ago, Jacksons Lane is an important theatre, arts centre and community hub in Haringey. It provides opportunities for young people such as free circus and drama workshops and support to older people, for example through its intergenerational theatre group. Jacksons Lane is included on my Cultural Infrastructure Map.
My Culture and Regeneration officers are exploring what support the GLA could offer this important grassroots venue and the communities it serves.

Modern slavery

Shaun Bailey: What specific progress have you made over the past 12 months on tackling incidences of modern slavery in London?

The Mayor: My Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) convenes the London Modern Slavery Partnership Board, effectively bringing together partners and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to support, showcase and problem solve work that is being undertaken to ensure a consistent and joined up approach across London to tackle modern slavery.
The Board has supported my efforts to encourage businesses to take this issue more seriously, with clear standards for identifying and preventing the problem included in my Mayor’s Good Work Standard.
The Board has agreed that a focus on domestic servitude will provide an opportunity to raise awareness of this largely hidden crime. This work will seek to change the behaviour of potential perpetrators and ultimately drive down the cases of domestic servitude.
In addition, MOPAC will be running a training programme to train frontline workers on how to spot and respond to cases of modern slavery.
I havealsosupported the Modern Slavery Helpline by providing a financial contribution to ensure it can continue running and provide detailed referrals andinformation to the police.

Pedestrian Pilot in Tooting (1)

Leonie Cooper: TfL is currently working on a Pedestrian Pilot for the Tooting part of my constituency. Is air quality improvement seen as one of the metrics for measuring success, and if yes, what reduction in PMs and NOx will constitute success?

The Mayor: The Tooting Town Centre scheme prioritises walking, cycling and bus use by improving infrastructure for, and encouraging a shift to, these sustainable modes. At an aggregate level across London, by driving down private car use and promoting sustainable travel, air quality benefits will be realised. However, capturing air quality benefits as a measure of success at this standalone location is unlikely to be meaningful.
This scheme is one measure I am implementing to improve our toxic air. For example, all new double-deck buses entering Transport for London’s (TfL) fleet will meet the highest emission standard (Euro VI) by October 2020 and TfL is re-fitting around 5,000 buses to meet that standard. Cycle Superhighway 7 will also be reviewed to try and ensure that it meets TfL’s Cycle Quality Criteria. Both these initiatives will have air quality benefits for Tooting Town Centre.

Holiday scams

Susan Hall: For each of the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, how many holiday scams have been reported to the Met, where people pay for fake holidays online?

The Mayor: It is not possible to provide this information. ‘Holiday scams’ would be a form of fraud, and as such would be dealt with/recorded by Action Fraud -the national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre.

Monitoring of Bus Use on Mare Street 4

Jennette Arnold: Please provide the bus usage data from the monitoring work undertaken since July 2019 at Bus stop Hackney Town Hall (A) including dates and times when monitoring took place. Please provide a month by month breakdown. Please also explain how bus users unable to board buses have been monitored in this data.

The Mayor: Please see my answer toMayor's Question 2020/0463.

Solar Together London

Caroline Russell: London has the lowest installed solar capacity of any region in the UK and this is a real lost opportunity. How many homes do you estimate: a) could have installed solar, and b) could benefit from further phases of Solar Together London?

The Mayor: I am supporting solar across London through my policies and programmes, including:
I set out ambitious targets in my Solar Action Plan to increase London’s installed solar capacity by one gigawatt by 2030 and two gigawatts by 2050. My forthcoming London Solar Opportunity Map, to be published in summer 2020, will for the first time allow us to estimate the number of homes that could install solar.
To date, working in collaboration with 15 boroughs, over 700 homes have installed solar photovoltaic systems through Solar Together London. Hundreds more installations are expected from the current round of the scheme, which saw an average 27 per cent cost reduction on the quality installation of solar panels achieved through the collective purchasing model. While it is currently difficult to project what further phases of the scheme could achieve (since the market is still adjusting to the loss of the Feed-in Tariff), initial calculations suggest that a similarly sized phase might result in around 700 new installations.

Bus usage (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: According to Department for Transport statistics published on the 22 January 2020 the number of local bus passenger journeys in England was 4.30 billion in the year ending September 2019, a 0.4% decrease when compared with a year earlier. However, in London bus use decreased by 0.8% in the latest year. What are the reasons for the fall in bus usage being faster in London than the rest of England?

The Mayor: In 2018/19, 2.2 billion bus journeys were made in London, half the national total. Although year on year demand declined by 0.8 per cent, bus use per head of population remained at over five times the level of use in the rest of England. Figures on bus use should be considered alongside travel data on other active, efficient and sustainable modes including Underground, rail, walking and cycling, usage of which increased in 2018.
Bus use is driven by a number of factors including economic growth, service levels, fares, operational performance and the availability of alternative travel options. We believe that some of the factors that accounted for the decline in bus use include people transferring from buses to walking, cycling and rail modes as enhancements such as line upgrades and Night Tube have come on stream. Traffic speeds in London have declined from 9.7mph in 2012/13 to 9.3mph. This aligns to an increase in the number of private hire vehicles and delivery vans; recent data suggests that private hire vehicles could account for 15 per cent of car traffic in London and 40 per cent of car traffic at certain times in central London, while light goods vehicle kilometres have increased by 16 per cent in the last four years.
Since July 2019, seven new bus routes have been introduced in addition to a large number of outer London enhancements. It will take some time for these service changes to build demand from new routes and enhancements and be reflected in bus passenger journeys.

Good Work Standard - Weekend Workers

Tony Devenish: How does your Good Work Standard specifically help weekend workers?

The Mayor: My Good Work Standard outlines a range of measures to help those who are working at weekends.
The Standard promotes fair contracts with stable hours, it encourages employers to institute measures to avoid a culture of ‘on call 24 hours’ and communications outside regular working hours. It also requires employers to consider how family-friendly their workplace is and gather data to support employees with working patterns that may involve weekend working.
The Standard also signposts employers to relevant resources to support their workforce who work at weekends. This includes promoting interest free loans such as my Childcare Loan Deposit Scheme which support employees with the one-off costs associated with childcare, including care outside of core office hours.
I am calling on employers in all sectors, including those with a weekend workforce, to become an accredited Good Work Standard employer.

Fire risk assessments for high rise buildings (1)

Andrew Dismore: What review has LFB conducted of the Fire Risk Assessments for buildings where stay put has been suspended?

The Mayor: The London Fire Brigade conducts a review of the fire risk assessment as part of the audit process, of buildings where stay put has been suspended, to ensure it is suitable and sufficient and highlights if there are outstanding actions identified by the risk assessor.

Insolvency Practitioners

Tony Devenish: How are you working with Insolvency Practitioners to protect vulnerable Londoners from mis-sold Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs)?

The Mayor: More action is needed to prevent people in debt being encouraged to take up a debt option that isn’t right for them. I am aware that some stakeholders have called for all lead generation of debt services to be FCA regulated and moreaction is needed to prevent people in debt being encouraged to take up a debt option that isn’t right for them.
The FCA rules are clear that those providing debt advice should have regard to the best interests of the individual and their circumstances and that the advice should be based on a sufficiently full assessment of their financial circumstances.
The FCA rules are also clear that authorised debt advisers must take certain steps before accepting leads from a lead generator.This includes taking reasonable steps to check that lead generators are complying with the law and are clear about their services. Insolvency Practitioners need to take these responsibilities seriously especially in light of the examples of mis-sold IVAs.
My officers are currently taking a more detailed look at the data from the Survey of Londoners on household debt after which they will be contacting relevant stakeholders, including the Insolvency Service, to discuss how we can work together to do more to support indebted Londoners.

Taxis and Bus Lanes (5)

Navin Shah: What percentage of Bus Lane length across London is accessible to Taxis?

The Mayor: 93 percent of bus lanes across London permit taxi access. The figure includes borough roads and those on the Transport for London Road Network.

Individual Voluntary Arrangements in London

Tony Devenish: Do you know how many Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) have there been in London each year since 2016?

The Mayor: In 2018, the most recent year for which data are available, there were 7,039 adults in London who had individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) put in place. In 2017, it was 6,196 and in 2016 it was 5,076.
The rate has increased from 2016 to 2018, with 7.5 adults out of 10,000 having an IVA in 2016, to 10.2 adults out of 10,000 having an IVA in 2018.
The rates in London are below those in any other region of England or Wales for each year since 2000.
The GLA publish data on Insolvencies as part of our Economic Fairness measures on the London Datastore. These data include bankruptcies and personal debt orders as well as IVAs.
Official statistics for individual insolvencies for 2019, including the number of IVAs, will be released by The Insolvency Service between July and August 2020.

Londoners in Debt

Tony Devenish: How are you working with the Financial Conduct Authority to help firms and Londoners deal with debt?

The Mayor: More action is needed to prevent people in debt being encouraged to take up a debt option that isn’t right for them. I am aware that some stakeholders have called for all lead generation of debt services to be FCA regulated and for the exclusion available to insolvency practitioners (from authorisation for debt counselling and debt adjusting) to be extended. Whilst any change to the regulatory perimeter is a matter for HM Treasury, I am encouraged to hear that the FCA, Insolvency Service and Regulated Professional Bodies meet regularly and I look forward to hearing the outcome of these discussions.
My officers are currently taking a more detailed look at the data from the Survey of Londoners on household debt after which they will be contacting relevant stakeholders, including the FCA, to discuss how we can work together to do more to support indebted Londoners.

Unregulated Lead Generators

Tony Devenish: What are you doing to protect vulnerable Londoners from unregulated lead generators who sell people’s details on to debt management companies?

The Mayor: I am concerned to hear that some lead generators are offering debt advice when not authorised and that some are seeking to pass themselves off as a charity or provider of government-supported advice.
The FCA rules are clear that authorised debt advisers must take certain steps before accepting leads from a lead generator.This includes taking reasonable steps to check that lead generators are complying with the law and are clear about their services.
Through my Good Work Standard I want to encourage employers to do all they can to support the financial resilience of their workers by signposting their employees to trusted debt or financial services.
I support the Government's plans to introduce a sixty day 'breathing space' for those in debt in 2021.In addition, I’m currently exploring what I can do to promote more ethical debt collection practices in the public sector and I’m also helping low-income Londoners increase their financial resilience, for example by piloting the delivery of welfare advice in schools.

IVA Risk Awareness

Tony Devenish: What are you doing to make Londoners more aware of the risks of Individual Voluntary Arrangements?

The Mayor: It is important, that Londoners on low-incomes have access to access to independent debt advice. Londoners need high quality support to find the debt solution that works for them.
I support the FCAs position that debt advisors must provide individuals with sufficient information about the available options and explain why they consider the available options suitable and other options unsuitable.
Through my Good Work Standard I want to encourage employers to do all they can to support the financial resilience of their workers. I encourage employers to signpost their employees to trusted debt or financial advice services.
I support the Government's plans to introduce a sixty day 'breathing space' for those in debt in 2021.In addition, I’m currently exploring what I can do to promote more ethical debt collection practices in the public sector and I’m also helping low-income Londoners increase their financial resilience, for example by piloting the delivery of welfare advice in schools.

Bus driver fatigue

Navin Shah: Loughborough University recently published findings from their pioneering research into bus driver fatigue, what steps will the Mayor take to ensure that learnings from the research are practically applied across the transport network to help ensure that risk of incidents are mitigated against?

The Mayor: As set out in my answers to Mayor's Question 2020/0358 and 2020/0432, robust fatigue risk management systems are required for any company to operate London buses under new contracts from this summer. This includes the roll out of appropriate training for managers within bus operators.
To encourage innovation and find effective interventions that can address fatigue further, Transport for London (TfL) is launching a £500,000 fund that operators can apply to from this spring and will be working with its operators to implement selected initiatives.
TfL, its contracted bus operators and the union, Unite, are also working together to foster better conditions for drivers such as launching the ``Wellbeing Bus’’ in November last year. This is expected to visit every garage on the network to provide health assessments and guidance to staff on health and wellbeing, as well as fatigue management.

London and Partners self-funding (1)

Susan Hall: How much of London and Partners activity is not funded by resources from the GLA? Please give a figure and a percentage for each year since 2015.

The Mayor: Please see the table below:
Forecast
Actual
Actual
Actual
Actual
2019/20
2018/19
2017/18
2016/17
2015/16
£’m
£’m
£’m
£’m
£’m
Non-GLA funding
13.6
11.9
15.7
12.2
8.9
%
50%
46%
57%
51%
43%
Source: London & Partners Management Accounts

Non-domestic buildings retrofit

Leonie Cooper: Please list all buildings treated through your non-domestic building retrofit programme in 2019 and so far in 2020.

The Mayor: My Retrofit Accelerator – Workplaces programme helps a range of organisations including London boroughs, NHS bodies, central government departments, educational establishments and cultural and heritage organisations to implement retrofit projects. It does this through an expert team providing free end-to-end support needed to get projects up, running and successfully implemented, and a framework of energy service companies.
The table in Appendix A lists the 109 buildings that are being taken forward for retrofit after having received support from the Retrofit Accelerator – Workplaces programme between 1 January 2019 and 14 February 2020.

497 bus route

Caroline Pidgeon: Does TfL have any plans to ensure that the 497 bus route is extended to serve Upminster station by following the 347 route? If not will TfL consider this option?

The Mayor: As part of my commitment to invest in the outer London bus network, route 497, which is a new bus service operating between Harold Hill (Hilldene Avenue) and Harold Wood station via King’s Park, was introduced on 25 January. This new service provides connections to areas previously unserved by the bus network, local shopping areas, and the polyclinic as well as Harold Wood station, improving access to TfL Rail and providing a link to the Elizabeth line when it opens.
When these plans were originally developed, Transport for London (TfL) carefully considered restructuring route 347, which operates from Romford to Ockendon via Upminster instead of introducing route 497. However, it found that restructuring the existing route did not represent value for money. The cost of operating buses could not be justified by the expected passenger demand in areas in the green belt east of Harold Wood and north of Upminster, which have very low population densities. Further details about TfL’s findings can be found at: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/review-of-bus-services-in-harold-hill.pdf.
While there are no current plans to extend route 497 to Upminster station, TfL will continue to keep it under review.

Bus services between St Helier and Epsom Hospitals

Caroline Pidgeon: Following expected reorganisations of health services between St Helier and Epsom hospitals and as part of your commitment to improve bus services in outer London will you ensure TfL gives full consideration to ensuring there is an express bus route improving bus links between the two hospitals?

The Mayor: NHS Surrey Downs, Sutton and Merton Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) have just launched their consultation on possible reorganisation of hospital provision in the area. Transport for London (TfL) is working closely with the NHS and Sutton Council and will continue to do so as plans for any re-organisation become firmer.
TfL is committed to improving bus services in outer London where demand is sufficient to justify a service. TfL recently consulted on a proposal to extend bus route 470 to Epsom Hospital. This would give additional direct links between many parts of the borough of Sutton (including the St Helier area) and Epsom Hospital. Route 293 already gives direct links to Epsom Hospital from the north-western part of the borough of Sutton.
Direct links between hospitals for staff are normally a matter for the health authority. Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust runs its own bus shuttle service on weekdays directly linking Epsom, Sutton and St Helier Hospitals. The shuttle is primarily for staff but also allows access to the public.Whilst it is not part of the TfL bus network and ticketing system, it charges the same £1.50 fare, and concessionary pass holders are allowed to board for free after 9:30am.

Public benefit of cultural institutions

Caroline Pidgeon: Two significant developments in Vauxhall currently base their planning applications on the public benefit delivered by an existing or new museum on the development, with the application for 8 Albert Embankment promising a permanent London Fire Brigade Museum and Kennington Stage (formerly Woodlands Nursing Home) promising to preserve the cinema museum in its existing location. In relation to the draft new London Plan how is the public benefit of these establishments assessed, in terms of benefits for local residents and separately the wider public? Under what process are the potential benefits for local residents offset against losses for existing residents such as potential loss of housing at social rent or adverse impacts in terms of increased traffic and reduced air quality?

The Mayor: My London Plan makes it clear the purpose of planning is the delivery of sustainable development and the statutory basis for this is the plan-led system. The Plan sets out policies to ensure that new development supports good growth – from delivering the housing, social, green and physical infrastructure that Londoners need to improving air quality and creating healthy streets. It also promotes the continued growth and evolution of London’s cultural offer which delivers both economic and social benefits. It encourages Local Planning Authorities to recognise the importance of culture in delivering good growth when setting policies in their Local Development Plan.
The London Plan must be read as a whole, with all relevant policies taken into account in developing Local Plans and assessing development proposals. In making any decision on an application a planning judgement has to be made weighing up the benefits of a proposal against the dis- benefits and, whether on balance, the scheme is in accordance with the Development Plan. The policies of the London Plan and relevant local development plan documents have to be taken into account in this process, alongside representations and local evidence, weighed up by planning professionals who make a recommendation on this basis to the relevant decision-makers.

Buses on demand

Caroline Pidgeon: The school run, where parents drive their children to school, adds considerably to congestion and pollution in London. Given the success of the Sutton on demand bus trial, will you consider a specific trial of on demand buses targeted at the school run, to help get children and parents out of their cars each day?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) currently do not have plans to conduct a trial of this specific nature.
It should be noted that the live trials - GoSutton and Slide Ealing – are targeted at car drivers in areas of high car use, including parents on the school run, and in Sutton the service has been specifically marketed to schools with this purpose in mind.

Installation of Heat Pumps in Suitable London Parks

Caroline Pidgeon: What consideration have you given to the benefits of installing heat pumps in suitable parks and green spaces across London given the carbon saving potential of heat pumps?

The Mayor: The ground source heat under London’s parks and green spaces does have the potential, in conjunction with the use of heat pumps, to help decarbonise London’s heat supply. This is mainly as a heat source for local heat networks but also for buildings with large heat demands that are adjacent to a park or green space. The use of secondary heat sources in conjunction with heat networks forms an integral part of my approach to decarbonising heat in London, as set out in my London Environment Strategy and the draft New London Plan.
In supporting the development of heat networks through my Decentralised Energy Enabling Project (DEEP) studies always review local secondary heat sources, such as parks and green spaces, for their potential to supply heat into a network. Any local secondary heat sources that have potential are then investigated alongside other viable heat sources as part of the next stage of the project development process.

London Power and Fuel Poverty (2)

Leonie Cooper: How will London Power help to tackle fuel poverty in London?

The Mayor: London Power will do more to help those in fuel poverty than is standard for energy companies. London Power offers a fair energy price which does not roll-onto an expensive Standard Variable Tariff (SVT) at the end of the contract. When customers reach the end of their contract, they will be rolled-over onto the cheapest similar tariff available at the time. This should be particularly beneficial to those in fuel poverty, who tend to be less likely to switch supplier.
Customers on prepayment meters benefit from a tariff which is always at least two per cent cheaper than the prepayment price cap. London Power will help us to identify those who need help through the sign-up process and refer them, with their permission, to other GLA or borough support schemes/programmes, such as the Warmer Homes Advice Service, or debt advice charities where appropriate.

London Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls strategy (6)

Shaun Bailey: What specific work is the Night Czar undertaking to fulfill the aims of the London Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls strategy?

The Mayor: The Night Czar created the Women’s Night Safety Charter to help make London a city where women feel confident and safe at night. The Charter’s seven pledges help deliver my commitments in the London Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy. So far, 340 organisations have signed up to the Charter.
My Night Czar also chairs a monthly Licensing Liaison Group of the Police, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, the Safer Sounds Partnership and local authorities. The meetings share intelligence to ensure all partners work together to make London’s licensed premises safer for everyone.

London Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls strategy (5)

Shaun Bailey: What specific work is the Night Czar undertaking to ensure the safety of women at night?

The Mayor: Making London safer at night for everyone, including women, is a top priority.
The Women’s Night Safety Charter aims to help make London a city where women feel confident and safe at night.
The Charter contains seven pledges and an action plan that organisations sign up to. This includes commitments to train staff, design safer spaces and nominate a champion to promote women’s night safety. To date, 340 businesses have signed up to the Charter including the O2, Ambassadors Theatre Group, McDonalds, UK Music, Purple Flag, Drink Aware, UK Hospitality and the London boroughs of Brent, Hackney, Havering, Islington, Hounslow, Southwark, Lambeth and Waltham Forest.
The Night Czar has worked with the Good Night Out Campaign to produce a toolkit offering information and resources to meet the Charter’s pledges. She also leads the annual Women’s Night Safety Summit, attend by signatories and those wanting to sign up to the Charter.
The Night Czar has set up a Late Night Transport Working Group with TfL and launched the Safer Sounds Partnership. She also chairs the monthly Licensing Liaison Group of the Police, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, the Safer Sounds Partnership and local authorities.

Bus routes

Caroline Pidgeon: Please publish a table showing how many of the buses on the following routes 256, 296, 347, 365, 496 and 674 are currently hybrid buses and how many will be (a) hybrid, and (b) electric in 2021 and by 2022.

The Mayor: The award of contracts to operate routes 256, 296 347, 365, 496 and 674 were all announced on 16 January 2020, with start dates from September to October this year. The six routes will use 43 mid-life buses which are already at or will be at the ultra- low emission Euro VI standard by the end of this October. These cut the most harmful exhaust emissions by up to four-fifths. There are no plans to change these vehicles to hybrid or pure electric buses from now to 2022.
Transport for London (TfL) is not able to make all routes coming up for retender electric as the range of battery-powered buses and infrastructure limitations at garages can preclude this. TfL is looking at the most economic way to make this happen so London has 2000 pure electric vehicles in the fleet by 2025.

Counter Terrorism Powers

Joanne McCartney: Following the appalling terror related attack in Streatham this month does the government need to rethink its policy on Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs) and resources for our police and security services?

The Mayor: TPIMs are currently one option which can be used to protect the public from potential violent extremists. Our judges need the range of necessary tools to give appropriate sentences that keep the public safe, including an option that allows the most serious and dangerous criminals to be released only when they are no longer a risk to the public. In addition, a decade of austerity and bodged reforms have left courts, prisons, probation and parole in tatters. The Government must urgently provide the resources our underfunded and overstretched criminal justice system desperately needs.

Countdown Information Boards (1)

Joanne McCartney: How many bus stops in Enfield & Haringey currently have a Countdown Information Board? And how has this changed since you became Mayor?

The Mayor: There are currently 67 Countdown signs installed at bus stops in Enfield and 114 installed at bus stops in Haringey. Since the project to upgrade on-street Countdown signs was completed in July 2012, delivering a total of 2,500 signs across the London network, no further Countdown signs have been installed in either borough.

Crossrail drivers (2)

Susan Hall: How many Crossrail drivers do you expect to be in employment once the line is fully operational?

The Mayor: There are expected to be around 470 drivers employed by MTR Elizabeth line for full operation of the Elizabeth line based on current proposed timetables, but this may be subject to change.

Crossrail drivers (1)

Susan Hall: How many Crossrail drivers are currently in employment?

The Mayor: There are currently 461 drivers employed by MTR Elizabeth line who are qualified to drive on the Elizabeth line. 29 of these are Driver Team Leaders.
There are currently 64 drivers currently in training.

Young people and gambling

Joanne McCartney: Are you concerned by reports that a Department of Education database containing the personal and contact details of 28 million children and young people, including London’s children, has been given to betting firms? What work are you doing to tackle gambling and help our young people budget effectively?

The Mayor: I am extremely concerned by reports that that children’s personal details have been shared with betting firms.
I am supporting young people with problem debt through my European Social Fund 2019-23 programme which provides skills, work experience and personal development support to help NEET young people with complex needs move into work or education. Young people with problem debt is specifically included as one of the groups who can be supported as I recognise the impact that financial instability has on young people’s ability to progress.
I am also improving the evidence base and understanding of problem debt including what drives it. The Survey of Londoners revealed that keeping up with debt is a heavy burden for a quarter of Londoners. I am conducting a deep dive into this data to further understand the causes and drivers. I am also undertaking a Strategic Evaluation of social welfare including debt advice in London which is due to be published by March 2020.
I am committed to ensuring that, through progammes such as that funded by the European Social Fund, young people are given the support they need to improve their financial literacy.

Delays and MPS

Joanne McCartney: Have government cuts to the Metropolitan Police led to increased delays in processing cases?

The Mayor: There is no question that cuts have had consequences. In recent years, the MPS has been forced to make cuts of more than £600 million. This led to the loss of police staff, police community support officers and the closure of police station front counters and police buildings. However, the MPS has dedicated itself to streamlining resources and introducing new processes to reduce delays in order to minimise the impact of cuts. MI Investigation, for example, is now in place to train all frontline officers as crime investigators with a focus on maximising forensic opportunities from point of first contact through the entire investigation. This means that officers oversee their cases to completion, producing better outcomes and a better service to victims. It also frees up time for C.I.D to focus on serious and complex crimes. I remain extremely concerned about the lack of resources and the growing demand of crime in London and will continue to lobby the Government for a fair settlement in order to keep Londoners safe.

Incident commander training (1)

Andrew Dismore: What percentage of LFB officers undertaking incident commander training have scored a) below 50% and b) between 50% and 75%?

The Mayor: a. None have scored below 50 per cent.
b. 24 per cent have scored between 50 per cent and 75 per cent.

London and Partners Gross Value Added (GVA) targets

Susan Hall: What progress has London and Partners made with meeting its Direct and Indirect GVA targets for London?

The Mayor: In the first nine months of the current financial year 19/20 London & Partners has delivered:

Night Czar Progress (5)

Susan Hall: How many theatres has the night czar prevented from closure? Please list.

The Mayor: The Cultural Infrastructure Map provides open source data on the location of cultural assets in London, including theatres, to help protect them.
My Culture at Risk Office has supported 18 theatres that were at risk of closure and that have remained opened or will be reopened. Many of these theatres have been supported through working closely with the Theatres Trust. My Night Czar supports the Culture at Risk Office on a case by case basis where appropriate.
Due to commercial sensitivities, theatre cases cannot be listed.

Night Czar Progress (4)

Susan Hall: How many cinemas has the night czar prevented from closure? Please list.

The Mayor: My Cultural Infrastructure Map provides open source data on the location of cultural assets, including cinemas, across the capital. Cinemas play an important role in local communities.
My Culture at Risk Office has supported seven cinemas that were at risk of closure and that have remained opened or will be reopened. My Night Czar supports the Culture at Risk Office on a case by case basis where appropriate. 

Due to commercial sensitivities, cinema cases cannot be listed.

London and Partner Brand Engagements

Susan Hall: How many brand engagements have London and Partners achieved annually since 2015?

The Mayor: London & Partners introduced a brand engagement measure into their methodology in financial year 19/20.
They have achieved 30m brand engagements for their campaigns in the first nine months of the current financial year 19/20.

London and Partners Audience Engagements

Susan Hall: How many audience engagements have London and Partners achieved annually since 2015?

The Mayor: London & Partners introduced an audience engagement measure into their methodology from financial year 18/19 to align with their new strategy.
Since then they have achieved: